


night sun shine upon me

by ultraviolentae



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Small Town, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Halloween Challenge, M/M, Stargazing, farmer! Jeno is a thing....., idk how im going to tag this without giving spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-08-01 23:44:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 30,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16294226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ultraviolentae/pseuds/ultraviolentae
Summary: Look at the starsLook how they shine for youAnd everything you do





	1. gold

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thebluesweater](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebluesweater/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This wasn't even supposed to get this long but............. it did.................. i hope it's good!! I loved joining this noren challenge with some of my closest friends uwu,,
> 
> Enjoy (hopefully)!!! <333
> 
> ps: sorry for any weird editing and typos._. i'll have to edit them out sometime ah

**G** reen meadows, green mountains, green trees, all Renjun could see was a big blur of green dash ahead of him. He leans out of the window subconsciously to get a better view of the picturesque scenery against his parents’ wishes, who had already reprimanded him for having tried that before in the busy highway. They don’t say anything that time around, though, the road was unsurprisingly deserted. The boy closes his eyes and lets the breeze smack against his face harshly due to the car’s fast speed, his hair dances frantically in the hair tangling the locks in a nest looking mess. Renjun didn’t care, his heart hammered harshly against his chest filled with freedom and happiness.

A new start awaited.

 

 

 

 

The sound of the pencil’s tip brushing against the sheet of paper creates a familiar melody inside the quiet house. His parents had gone out grocery shopping leaving the boy to his own devices, however nothing really worked in the house just yet which left Renjun with just one hobby left in his list of things-to-do-when-bored-out-of-mind. Drawing.

He stares out from the kitchen’s window into the valleys ahead, a group of about fifteen houses adorned the greenery scenery with their bright vibrant colours. His parents had decided that leaving at one of the ends of the town would be best, Renjun hadn’t said no to it when he had seen the beautiful views that greeted his screen when shown where their future — well, present — house would be located at. It looked even more breath-taking now than he actually there than back then, and even if it meant he’d have to take the bus to school unlike before where he lived merely five minutes away, it seemed worth it.

A knocking sound makes him snap out of it, he hadn’t even noticed he had been thinking until then. He looks down at his drawing for a split second before dragging his chair across the floor so he could attend the door. It creaks open – Renjun makes a mental note of informing his father it needed some oil – and then a pair of eye-catching sparkly golden locks greet him. They dance softly with the morning breeze, glowing when the sun hits them straight on.  
“Hello?” The boy standing in front of him asks when Renjun takes far too long to speak and chuckles when the other flinches awake. “I’m here to ask you if you’d like me to deliver milk to your house weekly or not!”

 _People still do that?!_ “My parents aren’t home, I don’t… know what they’d like?” Renjun blinks a few times before opening the door wider. “They should be back soon enough so if you’re free to wait about ten minutes then please do come in.” He says politely to make up for the weird first impression he had caused, and even if his eyes begged to drift upwards to analyse the boy’s peculiar locks; Renjun forced himself to keep his gaze locked with the stranger. 

“Oh, sure thank you.”

Renjun takes a step back to give the other space to walk in and then follows him with his eyes, his shirt was dirty and full of green smudges. Curiosity spiked in him, _who is this dude?_ But he stays quiet and leads him to the kitchen so to at least give him a cup of water out of courtesy. “I could make you tea too? If you’d like of course.”

The boy shakes his head then turns slightly to his right while holding his cup. A smile spreads across his lips. “You drew this?” He looks back at Renjun who nods shyly while tugging at his finger – a nervous habit he had since he could remember. “That’s awesome, you’re so good.” His eyes scan the whole paper for many minutes, and while he’s too busy doing that, Renjun observes him better.

Somehow his face looked more mature than his, but he couldn’t pinpoint why, but he just assumed he might be older than he was. Plus, his body looked almost as strong as a man’s, Renjun couldn’t help but wonder how in the world such a young boy could have such bulging muscles. Curiosity gets the best of him in the end. “So what do you do? Rather… What’s your name?” He asks awkwardly while scratching his bicep.

“Name’s Jeno.” The boy shoots him a big grin that made his eyes disappear. “I’m a farmer, my farm is just around the corner. You must’ve seen it when you passed by with your car, that’s how I figured new people had moved in.”

Renjun’s lips form a perfect O, he did in fact remember the big farm that had captivated him due to the big amount of cows scattered across the fields. It made sense. “Ahh I see…” Before he could try and ask more questions, the front door opens. “We got visits!” He shouts loudly and ducks his head down when Jeno barks out a loud at just how high-pitched the yell had come out.

He grunts to himself. _We are off to a great start, uh idiot?_

 

 

 

A soft smile spreads across his lips as the weak morning sun rays hit his face, he closes his eyes and sighs deeply. Somehow, not even the fact that it was his first day at his new school was making him nervous. Maybe it was the smell of freshly cut grass and the flowers surrounding him in the wooden bench where he sat patiently waiting for the bus that would take him to town. The natural beauty calmed his heart, nothing seemed to matter whenever he lost himself in his surroundings.

Ahead, a grey blur ruins the green that filled the horizon. Renjun gets up, rolls his shoulder as he adjusts his bag on his shoulder, and breathes in just as the bus stops right in front of him. The door opens to reveal a man, maybe about sixty, who smiles the moment he sees Renjun’s slim figure standing in the sidewalk. “Good morning, young man.”

He bows politely, opening his bag to get his ticket out to show only to be stopped by the driver who carefully places his hand on top of Renjun’s wrist and then shakes his head when the boy shoots him a puzzled look. “No need! We all trust each other here, unless you show us you’re not worthy of it. Of course.” The man grins.

“O-Oh, thank you!” Renjun bows again before scurrying to the nearest seat, he scoots closer to the window and stares out of it as he listens to one of his favourite songs. His eyes quickly follow the houses and gardens that they pass by with curiosity, every house was so uniquely beautiful — it was obvious the owners were allowed to decorate them any way they wished — it grabbed Renjun’s attention to its maximum.

A familiar big field shows in his camp of vision making him perk up excitedly, he comes closer to the window as if that helped him see better and smiles widely when he notices a silhouette in the middle of a plantation. He squints, the golden locks gave away right away who it was.

“It’s seven in the morning… What the hell.” Renjun whispers to himself and turns his head to keep on staring at Jeno as he swung the hoe, grunting when the bus moves too far for him to be able to see the other.

 

 

 

It wasn’t the first, and probably not the last, that Renjun had felt awfully scrawny. But this time around, it hit him in the face even harder than ever before. Everywhere around him the boys, and even the girls, seemed to be built in such a way that it made him look about five years younger. He wondered what in the world they fed the people in that town for them to look so old, but not _face old_ rather their body just looked way too developed.

He sighs deeply and grinds his teeth against his each other nervously, if people didn’t take him seriously because he looked like a child then the whole ‘new life’ thing would go down the drain. Maybe putting his hopes awfully high had been a big _fat_ mistake from his side, then again it wasn’t his fault. His parents flaunted the town at every waking second.

“Hello! You are the new kid, right?” Renjun hears to his side and snaps his head in the direction of the sound to figure out who had spoken to him, his breath hitches when a pair of big eyes adorned with pretty dark eyelashes stare back at him. The happy glint in the stranger’s eyes made his body relax right away.

“Yes? I suppose i am.” He gulps, hopefully discreetly, and tries his best to give the other a warm smile. “I feel i’m not in the right place though…”

The stranger frowns. “Ah why? Don’t you feel welcomed? I promise we are all very nice!” His pearly whites almost blind Renjun who vigorously shakes his head.

“No just…” Renjun snorts, how was he supposed to admit that he felt awfully skinny and weak compared to how well built the rest looked? It sounded dumb even in his head. So he opts with just vaguely gesturing to his body and hoping the other would get the gist of it.

“You’re from the city, right?” He asks, a cocky smile takes over his face and that only makes Renjun feel even smaller. “That’s normal, you’ll see in no time you won’t look like that anymore.” Renjun’s eyebrows knit together in confused but he doesn’t get to ask what the other meant for he changed the topic right away. “But that has to be a subject for another time, my name is Jaemin! What’s yours?”

The boy opens and closes his mouth a few times helplessly, which only makes him flush red even harder. He probably looked like an idiot. “Renjun.” He finally croaks out and licks his lips nervously.

“That’s pretty!” Jaemin compliments and Renjun ducks his head down to hide his rosy cheeks — that just kept on becoming redder by the minute. “So, Renjun, it’s not often that new people move in. We are all really excited to meet you, you seem shy though, but i hope you don’t feel overwhelmed. You can always tell us! I swear we are all nice here! Well... most. But still.” He rambles on and on, Renjun just nods along politely and tries his best to take in what Jaemin was saying as they walk around the halls.

He feels every eye on him, but not in a judging kind of way. More like as if he was an exquisite animal that had been recently discovered, it still left him slightly uneasy since in his old school it was as if nobody saw anyone but themselves. The new school was a whole new environment, a much louder and happy atmosphere. Renjun liked it.

“I suppose the rest you’ll figure out by yourself.” Jaemin concludes, and thankfully the boy had soaked in most of what had been said even if his brain was overwhelmed by the new sensations that flooded his system. “I hope you like it here, i’m always available if you need me!”

Renjun bows down slightly but Jaemin hits his back to tell him he didn’t need to and then chuckles. “Thank you for everything.” The newbie mumbles awkwardly.

The bell rings, it was a whole different melody from his old school’s. Much softer and calming than the constant ringing that he had been forcing to deal with for years. “Well, seems it’s time for some gardening Injunnah!” Jaemin exclaims and loosely grabs the boy’s wrist before sprinting downstairs — and Renjun who doesn’t have any other option but to let himself get dragged by the stronger male, squeaks slightly at the sudden action.

“Gardening?!” He asks baffled by the idea of having to do gardening in school.

Jaemin glances back at him for a curt second, a smirk decorated his pretty features. “I suppose this answers your question, no?” He snorts and looks ahead of him again. “Get ready for sore limbs for the next month.”

_Oh great. That’s fantastic._

 

 

Renjun drags his exhausted body out of the bus, but not before saying goodbye to the kind driver who kept looking at him with pitiful eyes. That wasn’t a shocker, Renjun knew he probably looked more dead than alive after all the swinging he had done in the morning. He couldn’t believe they had to start the day working their muscles that way, it was torture for him. Thankfully Jaemin had informed him that it wasn’t every day, rather thrice a week. Which didn’t make it much better since they had school five days a week, but it was still somewhat better.

“Oh my angel what happened to you?!” His mother shrieks when he falls onto the sofa dramatically after throwing his bag somewhere in the room. “Are they treating you badly?”

“Not at all.” He chuckles weakly and grunts when he moves his position so he could look at his mother properly. “It would’ve been nice if they had warned me that i’d be forced into slave work on the school’s _big ass_ gardens. Mom, i’m going to die.” Renjun whines dramatically and grunts again when his mother cackles loudly at his discourse.

She moves his fringe away and places a quick kiss on the boy’s forehead lovingly. “Hey, you weak thing, it’s good for you. Instead of having physical education, they make you do that. It’s more productive, don’t you think?”

“Yeah sure! But at what cost!” Renjun protests like a child.

“I’m sure your body will get used to it in no time.” His mother reassures him while playing with his dark locks. “Did you like the rest, though? Are they nice?”

The boy nods excitedly. “Yes! Ma, they all act like they’re friends with me already! That’s crazy, i didn’t even know half of my school back in Seoul.” He snorts with a big grin on his face. “They’re so nice, a bit intimidating but i’m sure i will grow these guns to match theirs soon!” He flexes his non-existent muscle making his father bark a laugh from the kitchen, Renjun glares at him to make him shut up but that only makes the man laugh louder.

“I’m glad you like it here, baby.” She gives him a genuine smile that he mirrors right away. “Mom loves her work, she’s not even tired! Would you look at that!”

Renjun pulls her closer into a quick hug, he was glad his mother had found a job she liked that didn’t drain her to the point of collapse’. His father looked more livelier. And Renjun, well Renjun for the first time ever in his life couldn’t wait for the next day to start so he could go to school.

 

 

 

“Jeno gave me an extra bottle of milk, i win.” Donghyuck, who Renjun had just met that morning, shows off proudly with a smug grin.

It seemed Renjun hadn’t been the only one awfully enticed by the farmer. Apparently, and Renjun quoted Jaemin’s words, “Just about every teenager has had a crush on him. If not still secretly has, i sure do.”. Maybe it was the hair that seemed terribly natural without a root in sight and, according to Mark who had seemingly gotten the chance to touch them, were really soft and silky. “Really, hair commercial worthy!” He had explained with his big expressive eyes.

“Yeah okay but he invited me over once!” Jaemin retaliates right away. “I got to see his cute dog.”

“When was that exactly?” Donghyuck quirks his eyebrow up teasingly successfully shutting the other up. “Exactly, i bet he was still in our school when that happened.”

Renjun frowns. “How old is he then?” He asks, it had been bothering him for quite some time since they constantly spoke of him as this unattainable man who they had admired from afar since very young.

“We don’t know.” Mark shrugs.

“What do you mean you don’t know?!”

They look in between each other and then Jaemin sighs. “He was found in a basket right outside Mrs. Yeul’s door. No note no nothing, they assume his age is just about ours but when he was put in school he was way smarter. So, if you see by the grading system. Jeno’s about twenty two.”

“We’re… Eighteen.” Renjun blinks a few times, taking in the information. “That’s so odd.”

“It is! But it’s so interesting too! He was the talk of town for years, you took his spot as the new kid. Or rather, the big occurrence that shifts things in our little community. Soon enough you’ll blend in, though. Don’t worry.” Jaemin pats his shoulder reassuringly. “Jeno however…” He fans himself with his hand exaggeratedly. “Man, he can never blend in can he?”

Donghyuck snorts. “Not really, not with that hair of his.”

Renjun tilts his head, usually he’d hold himself back from interrupting people so often to ask questions but he couldn’t help it. “He always had that hair?! I thought he dyed it.” He looks at the three boys wide eyed, he was more confused than ever.

“Oh sweet angel you really think we have those things over here in fuck-knows-where?” Donghyuck chuckles and pats Renjun’s head as if he was a kid. “When Mrs. Yeul found him, she was scared of him. For the longest time we simply supposed he wasn’t Asian, just maybe looked slightly like it. But we doubt it now, as a child it was harder to tell.” He explains calmly, didn’t even seem bothered by the influx of questions coming from the intrigued boy. “No one questions it anymore, we find it beautiful, but don’t process it as foreign like we used to. Not anymore.”

“You’ll grow used to it too, Injunnah.” Jaemin shoots him a soft smile before the conversation drifts to something completely different. Renjun wasn’t really listening to a word that was being said, he had too much to process to do so.

 

 

 

He heads down the street, exploring every corner and hidden spots of the neighbours nearby his house. The streets were deserted, he supposed most people were at home eating but his parents had overslept and hence he decided to take the opportunity to roam around while they cooked. As the boy passed by each house, a different kind of smell floated in the air making his stomach rumble, he ignored its pleas and kept on walking further away from home.

The sound of a truck right behind him breaks the peaceful morning silence, he flinches feeling his soul leave his body in surprise, and turns back to see what was going on. Golden locks greet him, Jeno had poked his head from out of the window and looked down at him with a warm smile — in contrast, Renjun probably looked like he had just seen a ghost.

“Good morning.” The other greets happily. “Your parents asked me to go look for you when i came by, they said lunch is done.”

“Oh.” Renjun blinks back at him before bowing a few times and turning on his heels to walk right back from where he had come from. “Thank you! I hope it wasn't a bother.”

Jeno furrows his eyebrows when he notices the boy had started walking away just like that and calls out for his name, giggling when Renjun turns his head towards him looking awfully like a scared little kitten. “Hop in, why should you walk?”

“It's just a five minute walk! We have already been a bother.” Renjun waves his hand in front of his face that just kept on becoming redder the more they talked.

“Don't be silly.” The vehicle’s door clicks open wide and Jeno moves to the driver’s seat again. He shoots the other an expectant look that makes Renjun feel too guilty if he was to say no.

He steps inside the truck and shifts awkwardly on the seat before putting on his seat belt. “Thank you…” Renjun mumbles and looks right into Jeno’s eyes who seemed to glow in a way he had never seen before. He couldn't quite describe it, they seemed to have a life of their own, Renjun couldn't look away.

“Welcome!” Jeno chirps as he starts the engine, but Renjun is still too hypnotised by him to look away. There was just _something_ about Jeno. “Is my face dirty already?” The boy jokes snapping Renjun out of his thoughts.

He chuckles nervously and then shakes his head. _This is so embarrassing._ “No, sorry. I zoomed out.”

“Ah then you can keep on staring.” Jeno smirks with his eyes focused on the road ahead as he drove skilfully.

Unable to speak, all Renjun manages out is a choked up sound of surprise that Jeno seemingly finds amusing by the way his smirk only seems to widen. He looks out from the window while biting on his bottom lip painfully hard, if embarrassment could kill; he'd already be seven feet underground.

 

 

 

“Look at these guns.” Renjun flexes his bicep and wiggles his eyebrows at Jaemin who smiles gently back at him. “Stop, don’t laugh. This is the most exercise i’ve done my whole life.”

“I wasn’t laughing at you.” His friend mumbles with a slight offended pout on his lips as he carefully removed a radish from the soil. “It’s adorable, that’s all.”

Renjun moves closer to the other to help him with his task and then sighs. “Sorry i assumed.” He bumps his torso against Jaemin’s to catch the boy’s attention. “In the city, people aren’t really all that nice.”

“So i’ve heard.” Jaemin says before ruffling Renjun’s hair with his clean hand, the gentle smile of before shows up once again much to Renjun’s relief. “Don’t feel discouraged, you’re doing better than i thought.”

The boy beams at the compliment, his eyes sparkle brightly and he can’t help but grin widely at that. “Really?!” When Jaemin nods to reassure him, Renjun lets out a high pitched giggle. “Thank you!”

They proceed to keep on collecting the vegetables like they had been told in silence until Donghyuck joins them and starts rambling about how Jeno had complimented his music taste after hearing him blast his Michael Jackson playlist when he had come over to distribute his goods. Renjun just snorts, as far as he could see, Jeno was nothing but a big flirt who enjoyed making everyone flush over minimal things.

And he, quite sadly, had fallen on his trap as well.

“Why do you gush over such things? Isn’t it obvious he acts this way to everyone?” Renjun butts in and regrets it right away for his words had come out way colder than expected. “Sorry, i didn’t mean it like that…”

“He’s cute! Of course i’m going to gush.” Donghyuck snorts. “Say, Huang, has he hit on you for you to say such things after being here for just a few weeks?”

Renjun flushes red and tries busying himself with his task instead of looking at anyone in the eye. Mark who had overheard the conversation had moved closer to them as well, six eyes stared closely waiting for a reply. “I guess? I thought it was flirting…”

“What did he do?! Spill the beans already!” Donghyuck pushes on excitedly and Jaemins hums next to him, poking his elbow on Renjun’s ribs to encourage him to keep going.

“He gave me a ride home, and was acting awfully flirty-”

“He what now?!” Donghyuck shrieks and crawls towards Renjun at light speed making the other gulp in fear, the boy looked like he had lost his sanity for a split second. “How the heck did that even happen?!”

“I went out for a walk and my parents asked him to bring me home i suppose?” Renjun blinks rapidly. “Listen, it really wasn’t much. The point is how flirty he is, he enjoys that we fall on his feet-”

Jaemin snorts and goes back to doing his work. “Heck, we know that. I’ll gladly fall on his feet any day. He wants me to be his housewife? I’m ready to put my cooking abilities to practice.”

Renjun gapes like a fish while looking at his friend like he was crazy. “Jaemin!”

“What?!”

“You’re nuts.”

The boy scoffs but doesn’t bother replying, instead it is Mark who speaks up next. “That’s just how Jeno is really, but i mean… who wouldn’t enjoy having people gush over you?” Renjun quirks his eyebrow, he did make a good point. “Jeno is a nice dude, no one minds acting like a fool around him.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

 

Except Renjun didn’t enjoy the fact that he kept on falling for Jeno’s charms just like anyone else, maybe it was his competitive side that he had gotten from growing in the city where people always force everyone to try and be the very best they can possibly be to stand out from the crowd. He just knew he absolutely hated whenever Jeno came around and he could already feel his brain freeze. It was the stupid smile, it had to be.

“Hey.” The boy whispers when Renjun opens the door. He couldn’t understand why in the world Jeno felt the need to knock every time he came around, last time he checked he could just put the milk by the side of the door and leave. But Renjun couldn’t even get annoyed that his reading session had been interrupted by such an ethereal creature, much to his discontentment all he felt was that stupid gushy emotions that spread across his body.

_Fool._

“Thank you!” He grabs the box full of milk bottles and returns the smile.

“It’s so you keep them fresh.” Jeno explains out of the blue making Renjun stop in his tracks with a confused look on his face. “I saw how puzzled you looked, thought it might be that.”

Renjun unfreezes and then chuckles lowly. “Ah yeah, you’re right i was wondering.”

“Sorry, i hope it isn’t a bother?” He tilts his head, like one of those cute puppies from the YouTube compilations Renjun would watch whenever he felt down.

“Oh, not at all. I was just reading…” The boy looks inside to the Astronomy book laying open on the couch, Jeno seemed to be able to see it too for he lets out a sound of surprise and looks at Renjun with big glowing eyes.

“You like space?!” He inquires excitedly.

The other smiles brightly and nods with just as much excitement. “I do! It interests me so much, i want to know more about it.” He heads inside to put the milk down since it had started to pain his arms — he had gained some muscle, but not nearly enough to be able to hold that much weight for so long. Jeno trails behind without asking, he supposed that was a habit of people in their town due to the familiarity so he doesn’t say anything.

“May i?” Jeno darts his eyes towards the half read book.

“Sure thing.” Renjun says while placing the bottles on the fridge. “It is still basic level so i understand, i wish to level my knowledge up slowly.”

The room becomes silent for a few minutes, apart from the clinking of the bottles against each other whenever Renjun took one out, nothing could be heard. A page flips one after another, and when the boy is finished with the milk, he comes closer to Jeno whose eyes were solemnly focus on the writing and pictures in the pages. “It’s...a great book actually.” He finally says, so quietly Renjun almost doesn’t catch it.

“Thank you! Glad you think so!”

Jeno turns to Renjun as he closes the book. “Do you stargaze?” The boy shakes his head. “Why not?! It’s best way to connect to space.”

“In the city you barely see the stars, i don’t know much about stargazing.” Renjun sighs.

“If you’d like, i could teach you. Y’know the constellations and such.” Jeno offers, no malice nor flirtations tone to it. The other nods frantically making Jeno chuckle. “Is it okay if i come over later tonight then?”

Renjun freezes once again, somehow he hadn’t expected Jeno to offer it so early. But he was really eager to stargaze since he had never had the chance to do it, so he forces himself to snap out of his thoughts to finally reply back to Jeno who already looked guilty for having asked. “Yes! Sorry, i didn’t expect you to offer so suddenly.”

The other’s shoulders seem to relax. “I’ll see you later then.”

 

 

As soon as dinner ended, Renjun couldn't focus on anything and instead lay on his bed with his eyes glued on the ceiling. He was in such a jittery mood that even that didn't help, so he gets up and trots around his bedroom mumbling things to himself. “It's fine, he's not going to like… murder you or anything.” The boy throws his head back and groans, he just _really_ hated that he was feeling so nervous.

“RENJUN!” His mother shouts making him gulp. The palm of his hands were clammy even after he frantically rubbed them on his jeans, it was pretty pathetic. Renjun had had many crushes, and yet somehow he had always managed to keep his cool around them.

He wasn't even sure it was a crush, Jeno was just intimidating. But not in a scary way, more like when you try hard to be on your best behaviour to get some praises from the teachers kind of intimidating. It was so _so_ odd.

“Coming!” He shouts back with less strength and runs down the stairs with his head hanging low so he wouldn't make eye contact with Jeno just yet. Before his mother could even nag him about bringing a jacket with him, Renjun beats her to it and snatches one from the big pile of clothes they still had to array. “I won't be back very late.”

“We trust Jeno to bring you home before midnight.” His father grins at the blonde and then pats his son’s shoulder. “Have fun.”

Renjun hums and heads outside, head still hanging low. “Just follow me.” Jeno says as he starts walking towards the dimly illuminated street. “Don't worry about cars, you won't see any.”

The boy follows blindly, it was baffling how much they all already trusted Jeno like that because back in the city it'd take Renjun almost an hour to convince his parents to go out at night. He supposed the city was far more filled with potential murderers, but his parents had no way of knowing that Jeno wasn't malicious. And yet, as Renjun stares at the boy in front of him who sparkled in grey hues, he too can't feel a drop of evil oozing off him.

They head up a little hill into a deserted grass field that seemed untouched for the most part, and when they reach the peak Jeno stops. “This is where i often come alone to stare up at the skies. I could do it in my farm anyways, but somehow the universe looks glorious seen from here.” That had been the most he had heard Jeno talk since he had first met the boy. His voice, that wasn't nor husky or low and yet somehow could still be described as such, makes Renjun’s heart thunder a little louder. “Lay down.” He commands as he does so.

Renjun can only stare at him, frozen by the realisation that this was in fact actually happening.

Jeno turns to look at him and quirks his eyebrows. “Hey city boy, it's okay to get dirty you know that right?” He teases which just makes Renjun flush red with embarrassment — not that Jeno could see it, but he still knew the boy had pushed his buttons and he hates it.

He first sits cross-legged on the cool grass, then slowly lays right next to Jeno who observed his every move attentively. “Wow.” Renjun breathes out when his eyes finally catch a glimpse of the scintillating stars. “They look even brighter out here.”

“Told you.”

At first they lay in silence, staring up at the twinkling sky taking in its peaceful beauty. And then Jeno scooches closer till their arms are brushing against each other and begins to speak with his index pointing up to show Renjun where to look. His words flow smoothly, as if he were a teacher with years of formation on the universe and its secrets. Renjun let's his mind swim the new knowledge, time doesn't seem to go by. In fact, it was as if they were frozen in it.

“There's so much you can see from here, i find it fascinating.” Finally Jeno goes quiet and turns to look at Renjun who was still looking ahead at his newly discovered world. His dark eyes reflected the stars, as if he had trapped them in there. “We should go.”

The sparkly eyes finally drift in Jeno’s direction but Renjun doesn't speak, he stares at the boy’s face illuminated in the silver light like he was the night sky — in many ways, both were just as captivating — and then blinks to bring himself back to Earth.

“Yeah.” He sits back up, hugging his knees as he steals another glance at the stars. “Can we do this again?” If he wasn't so out of it, maybe a blush would've crept up his cheeks at his blunt request.

Jeno walks next to him with his arm extended to help Renjun get up. “For sure, it was a pleasure.” The boy smiles gently and does grabby hands. “Come, it's almost past midnight.”

Renjun latches his cold hand around Jeno’s wrist to pull himself up, Jeno wasn't cold but he wasn't warm either. He furrows his eyebrows, _how could Jeno possibly not be cold?_ Maybe he really had no meat in his bones to protect him after all.

“You're freezing.” He points out with a slight pout. “Let's get you home quickly.”

“You can go home, i know my way.” Renjun mumbles now that he had finally snapped out of this daze, he felt so weird inside. None of what had happened even felt real, so much so that if it wasn't for the way he was shivering due to how cold he felt he would've thought it was all a dream.

“Why’d i do that when i pass by your house on the way to mine?” Jeno chuckles and tugs at the boy’s jacket so he'd move.

“Right.” He says, defeated. There was no way he could win against Jeno it seemed.

 

 

 

Renjun swings the shovel harshly with a loud grunt and then, mid panting, turns to Donghyuck who was carefully putting seeds inside the soil. “Do you have a crush on Jeno, or is he just cute?” He inquires filled with curiosity and swings the shovel once again, his muscles were aching but he refused to give up even if they’d hurt to the point where he wouldn’t be able to move them the next day.

The boy perks up and snorts. “Not a crush, why?”

“Just curious.”

They go back to their job, Renjun thinks that was the end of it but he couldn’t be more wrong. He should know Donghyuck better than that, really. “Do you have a crush on unattainable boy, Renjunah?” That makes Renjun stop in his tracks, he puts his whole weight on the shovel, head hanging low.

“I don’t know.” Is all he says, because he actually didn’t. He thought he might, but there was always the chance he was mistaking admiration for a crush. In a way, he hoped he was, because Donghyuck had said it too. Jeno seemed tragically unattainable.

“If you’re questioning, i think you already know the answer.”

“I don’t even know the dude.” Renjun grumbles going back to what he was doing previously, his muscles begged for him to quit but letting his frustrations out on the earth below him felt far too good for him to stop. “I literally don’t know him, i think he’s just a pretty face to me too.”

Donghyuck walks closer and snakes his arm around Renjun’s slim shoulders. “Y’know, you don’t pick who you crush on based on how much you know them sometimes.” He squeezes his friend’s bicep and clicks his tongue. “Frankly i’d see kissing Jeno as a sort of reward, as in Wow I Kissed The Most Handsome Dude In Our Town. Would you feel that way, if it were to happen?”

Renjun chews on his bottom lip and stares at his feet. _Would he?_ He never saw himself as a person who would see others as prizes, if he did then he would’ve already told his friends that they had been stargazing for two weeks already. So, to put it simply, no. “I don't know Hyuck, maybe i just really hate the idea of crushing on someone everyone has the hots for. And plus, Jeno is just so…”

“Out of this world?” The boy finishes. “I get you, there’s just something special about him. Apart from, y’know the bizarre hair.”

The other snorts while nodding, Donghyuck was right. He had already come to the conclusion that there was something about Jeno that he couldn’t quite put his finger on, but that lured him as if he was a starving animal. In many ways, it was just as animalistic. It wasn't something he could control, because even when he wished to say no to Jeno, he always caught himself agreeing. So Jeno kept coming over, again and again, and they’d lay together on that same valley staring up at the night sky.

He wished he had it in him to stop letting Jeno get his way, but his heart longed to be with him too much. It was so pathetic, especially to him who had always had so much self-control when it came to his feelings. Pushing Jeno out again really wasn’t something he felt he could do now, because no matter how much he lied to himself, Renjun knew he’d spend the whole day looking forward to when the boy would come knocking on his door.

“I really hate it.” Renjun whines.

“Y’know.” Donghyuck licks his lips before patting his friend’s back. “You’re really pretty yourself, give it a shot.”

Renjun looks at him like he had grown two heads and then scoffs loudly. “Yeah sure…”

“I’m serious.” The boy stops and looks right into Renjun’s eyes, he really was being frank. “Just go for it, Renjun.”

 

 

 

It was the real first time that he was seeing the town center, he’d pass by it every morning but till then there hadn’t been any chance for him to explore it properly. What better time than doing it with his new friends who seemed enthusiastic to show him around, telling him the memories that each little spot held. Renjun somehow managed to not feel excluded from not having grown up alongside them, the group had always been so warm towards him it was as if he wasn’t the newbie at all and instead those stories they spoke of had been spent with him as well. Never before had the boy felt so integrated in a group, he loved it here.

He loved everything, from the warm people to the pretty buildings. Home, he supposed that was what home felt like. The realization overwhelms him at first for he couldn’t believe he had found his home in the middle of the countryside in a place he would’ve never dared come to if it wasn’t for his parents. In many ways, it opened his horizons beyond what the city life had taught him. For the entirety of his life Renjun had seen more remote towns as boring, but now he saw how wrong he was.

And maybe his mind would change with the years, but what mattered was that right there and then, Renjun was happy and content. More than he had ever in his eighteen years of living.

 

As they swing their legs on top of the tall rock wall facing the pretty river, the sun starts to set behind the mountains in the distance. But none of the boys seemed bothered by darkness, didn’t fear robbers nor murderers, it was a lump of fresh air for someone who adored the night above anything else but never had the chance to appreciate it since the city was simply too dangerous.

“This is nice.” He whispers with his eyes closed and throws his head back taking in the fresh nocturnal air.

“Wanna see something beautiful, Injun?” Jaemin pokes his bicep making the other crack one eye open to check if he was serious. “Come.”

The four boys head down the slope towards the streets again, the pretty street lamps decorated the otherwise pitch black night with shades of yellow and orange and, in the center of the town’s square, the previously dull grey stone seemed to glow. He gasps and walks closer to it, feeling the heat it radiated as he did so.

“That’s just so pretty!” Renjun giggles and lets his hand hover just above the object.

Mark places his hand on the boy’s shoulder, the four of them had their eyes glued on the glowing ball. “Been there since forever, even my grandmother says when she was a child it had been their main attraction.” He explains, Renjun turns to look at him with his eyebrows furrowed. He had thought it was some sort of lamp for decoration, not some magical object that glowed on its own. “We think it feeds off the sunlight, very much like those star stickers we all put in our ceilings as children.”

Donghyuck and Jaemin nod to confirm Mark’s words which only makes Renjun more confused. “Really…? Nobody knows how long it’s been here?!”

“Nope.” Jaemin says, popping his lips at the ‘p’ loudly. “Been here since the town was made probably.”

Renjun goes back to analysing the odd object, it was perfectly round and had the texture of a crystal that seemed to lit up from the inside. It was mesmerizingly beautiful, he couldn’t get his eyes off it for a split second.

“Jeno.” He hears behind him and suddenly the ball seemed unimportant. _Are they really back to talking about Jeno when we got such a bizarre object right in front of us-_

“Hello!” The familiar soothing voice that would teach him star facts almost every night makes him snap out completely, he turns around and stops breathing when he sees Jeno’s golden hairs radiate under the yellow lamp just above.

“What brings you here?” Donghyuck chirps, eyelashes batting comically in an attempt to act seductive.

Their eyes lock, Renjun’s body tenses up at the strength of his gaze and so he looks away towards the unilluminated dark fields. “Just went out for some drinks, was heading back but i saw a bunch of people gathered here. I got curious.” He explains calmly.

Renjun drifts his eyes back ahead of him only to meet Jeno’s once again, he licks his lips but refuses to look away again. “Ah we were showing Renjun our precious Night Sun.” _Night sun?_ “And the story behind it.”

“But there is none.” Jeno snorts, Renjun just wished he’d look away for once but instead the boy insisted on keeping their eyes locked. He was going crazy.

“Exactly!” Jaemin exclaims loudly, the other two friends chuckle.

“Well.” He finally looks over to Jaemin. “I should get going, you guys shouldn’t go home too late either!” The three boys visibly melt and let out a choir of ‘Yes, Jeno-yah!’, but Renjun refuses to join their little fanclub even if he too had _sadly_ melted at the boy’s concern. “I suppose we won’t meet tonight then?” Jeno looks back to Renjun who sucks in a breath to stop himself from gasping.

Six pairs of eyes drill into his skull right away, his three friends were staring with a look of disbelief and confusion and it was making Renjun want to dig a hole and jump right in. He laughs awkwardly, it sounds more like a cough than anything. “Yes, not tonight.”

The other nods and waves them all goodbye with his infamous eyesmile and pearly whites on display. “Sleep well, then!”

“You too!” They all say at the same time — Renjun included this time.

Once the boy disappears in the darkness, the questions starts flooding out of his friend’s mouths nonstop. He shrieks to shut them up and then sighs loudly while rubbing both sides of his head. “I’ll… I’ll explain just please calm down.”

 

“So you didn’t tell them.” Jeno sniggers the next day as they cross the empty street, Renjun lets out a grunt. He feels like kicking the boy’s butt for putting him in such an uncomfortable situation the night before, it wasn’t like his friends were mad or anything but still he now was being called ‘Jeno’s boyfriend’ and that just made him flush with embarrassment every time. It was awful, they had even asked if they’d go on a “date” that night too and when Renjun had choked up on his words, then the teasing restarted once more with the addition of Donghyuck’s smooching noises.

_Goddamnit._

“No! Why would i?”

“Why wouldn’t you?”

Again, Jeno won. “Because!” He squeaks and crosses his arms over his chest. “Wait where are we going?”

The boy looks back at him. “My house, i want to show you the universe up close.” He snorts when Renjun’s eyes widen considerably. “I got a telescope, i think you’ll like it.”

“O-okay.” Renjun licks his lips nervously and keeps on following him without asking questions, he trusted Jeno enough to enter his house at dawn. Of course he did.

It was just intimate in many ways, especially knowing that the other barely invited anyone in from what his friends had said about Jeno so far. He was a very reserved person even if warm just like everyone else. He didn’t allow himself to dwell on it too much, that wasn’t like him.

Jeno opens the gate and lets it slightly open for Renjun to come inside as well before closing it and walking ahead into the unknown. It was impossible to see what was right ahead of them — the moon was far too weak to illuminate the night— and even if Renjun was aware Jeno probably knew the farm like the back of his hand, it still amazed him how the other didn’t need any sort of illumination to be sure of what he was doing.

“Sorry if you feel something against your leg, that’s my dog.”

“What?!” Renjun shrieks, jumping in the air like a scared cat.

The boy chuckles and crouches down. “Hello Ruby, how are you angel?” He says in a baby voice. “This is Renjun go say hi to him!”

“Ah that’s not needed-” The next thing Renjun knows, he feels the soft fur brush against his hand. He shrieks loudly before slapping his hand over his mouth and forcing himself to calm down.

“Don’t be scared, she’s big but very gentle.” Jeno informs clearly amused by the other’s reaction. “Come in, bye Ruby!” He turns on the light inside of his house finally illuminating their surroundings and pats the dog’s head lovingly.

It was a pretty dog, Renjun must admit, he supposed if he hadn’t been so blinded by his fear of what might be hiding in the dark, he might’ve welcomed her warmly instead of shrieking like a child. “She’s cute.”

“Is that how you greet cute people?” The boy teases as he gets himself a cup, Renjun growls but that only makes Jeno chuckle once again. “What’d you like?”

Renjun leans against the counter while taking in the details of the room. It was very simplistic, there was a clock right in the middle of the wall he was facing and the rest was filled with the usual kitchen furniture. He furrowed his eyebrows, maybe Jeno was just too lazy to decor it though, not everyone was an interior design freak like he was.

“Tea.” He looks at Jeno in the eye again. “But water is just fine.”

The boy nods. “Tea it is.” And then silence falls again leaving Renjun to wander about with his eyes.

He peeks through the kitchen door into the corridor, again it didn't have much. There was a line of three small paintings hung up though that grabbed his attention, he looks back to Jeno who was busy making his tea and turns on the corridor’s light so he could inspect it better.

Planets. They seemed to be drawings of planets, and they were certainly beautiful. Renjun smiled at the fact that they were both such space nerds, those would definitely be drawings that not only he would make but also hang up on his house. “Mrs. Yeul painted those.” Jeno’s smooth voice breaks the silence but no matter how soothing it was it still make Renjun flinch for he felt he was prying too hard. The other didn't seem to be mad, however.

“She's really good…” Renjun breathes out and looks even closer at the little texture details the woman had put so much effort into. “It's beautiful.”

“It really is.” He smiles fondly. “Tea is ready, let's go.”

The pattern remains, every part of the house was simplistic, functional, but not very warm. Renjun couldn’t help but wonder if Jeno had that little of a personality, or if the boy simply couldn’t be bothered to make the house feel like it belonged to him. Maybe not everyone enjoyed making sure their personalities were tainted all over their belongings.

He opens the door only to reveal the pitch black room that Jeno doesn’t even bother on illuminating, instead he grabs Renjun’s wrist and leads him around the dark with ease until they reach the window were the telescope was. Jeno looks at Renjun with a gentle smirk on his lips and pushes him forward, nudging him so he’d test the equipment. “Just put your eye here.” He instructs calmly and Renjun follows. “Now look, see how beautiful the universe is.”

The boy gasps softly as soon as he gets a view of the sky and backs away to look at Jeno with big wide eyes filled with sparkling amazement. “Holy shit Jeno!” He bends down again to look through the telescope and shrieks excitedly, moving his hands frantically to let out some of the excitement running through his body. “Holy shit you can see so much!”

“Be careful with it.” The boy places his hand on Renjun’s back to stop him from moving the telescope too much. “Is it pretty, Injun?”

His body tenses up at the nickname, he gulps and then nods pretending he hadn’t even noticed. “I’m speechless really.” He lets out a few ‘Wow’s and ‘Woah’s and then goes quiet, and instead focuses on the expanse of space the circle allowed him to see. It was incredible, the stars shove brighter, he could even swear those were nebulas he was seeing but he was too afraid to ask and come off as sounding dumb in front of Jeno even if he knew the boy would be more than happy to correct him if needed be. He supposed he had reached the point where he refused to come off in a bad light to the other, that’s when Renjun really saw just how _fucked_ he was. To the point of no return.

He liked Jeno, he liked Jeno so much.

And yet he knew so little about him.

From then on, Renjun made it his mission to pry in deeper into who exactly Jeno was.

“Injun.” _That again._ “Finish your tea, you have to head back soon.”

The boy plops on Jeno’s bed and thanks him when the other hands him the scorching got cup. He pokes his tongue out to feel just how hot it was and then tentatively takes a sip, it burns his tongue at first but he gets used to it and drinks with more ease. It is only then that he notices Jeno was staring at him attentively, as if analysing his every move. “What is it?”

“Does it burn?” He asks innocently.

“Ah yeah, just a bit. But it’s supposed to be that way.” Renjun chuckles and takes another gulp, it was more lukewarm now so it was okay but Jeno seemed so _damn_ worried it was making him want to poke his cheeks. “What? Does it not burn yours?”

Jeno flinches suddenly making Renjun’s eyebrows knot in confusion, he was so taken aback it made no sense. “Me? Yeah, sure it… burns.” He drifts his eyes away towards the window while sipping on his own tea.

It’s Renjun’s turn to stare intensely at the other, but he doesn’t feel creepy for he was too busy trying to figure out what in the world was going inside the boy’s head. His reaction was just too odd. “Jeno-”

“We should go, no? You’re done so.” Jeno gets up, taking the other’s cup as he does so. He heads towards the door without even asking Renjun if he’d like help manoeuvring  in the dark room, next thing Renjun knows he’s left alone in silence.

He opens and closes his mouth, then blinks to focus his eyes. “Okay?” The boy grumbles, shoulders sagging down in defeat before he gets up and tries his best to not hit anything in the process of walking out of the room. When Jeno’s bulky figure shows up in sight, he can't help but relax and let a soft smile take over. The Jeno effect, he supposed. “Let us go.”

Jeno opens the door and a shiver runs down Renjun’s spine with the sudden cold breeze that hits his face. The other seems to notice this for the closes the door right away and heads inside through the dark corridor disappearing for a few seconds before coming back with a jacket. “Here, please don’t be cold.”

“Won’t you be cold too?”

“No it’s alright don’t worry about me.” Jeno says quickly and steps outside into the cold night, his eyes glint at the way Renjun looked with the kitchen’s light hitting him from the back making him look like he radiated light of his own.

“Of course i worry.” The boy blurts out, cheeks instantly flushing red at that. “Just don’t catch a cold or something.” He mumbles pushing past Jeno as if he hadn’t said anything.

Jeno stood stone cold, the light from inside the house slowly fading as the door closes on itself until all the light is gone.

 

_Pink._

 

_All he sees is pink._

 

 

 

 

“Dude.”

Renjun groans loudly.

“No dude listen-”

“Liars! He wasn’t looking at me like that!” He protests and puts his hands over his ears to muffle out the noises.

“Shut up you know full well he didn’t stop staring into your eyes the whole time, i felt like such a third wheel! And i had Mark and Donghyuck with me!” Jaemin shouts to make sure his friend would hear. “Jeno wants you, fool!”

The boy lets out a puff of air and grinds his teeth against each other to stop himself from yelling right in front of his friend’s face to shut up once more. Maybe they were right, yes Jeno _was_ staring at him in a way he had never been stared at, but that didn’t exactly mean anything romantic. Who knew, maybe he had something in his face that day that was bothering Jeno-

“Snap out of it, idiot.” Donghyuck shakes his shoulders, Renjun looks over to Mark with fear plastered all over his face but his friend simply shrugs in return. _Traitor._ “Look, look at me you fool, you idiot, you-”

“I get it.” Renjun rolls his eyes earning another hard shake from his friend.

“You get it? I don’t think i’ve made it quite clear just how dumb you are being honestly.” Donghyuck bites back. “Listen when i tell you Jeno has never shown actual interest in anyone i mean it.” Renjun rolls his eyes again. “Stop that! You went to his house for crying out loud!”

“Okay, and?”

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” He could see flames in Donghyuck’s eyes, the boy grabs the jacket Renjun was wearing and tugs at it harshly making the boy whine for him to take his hands off it. “This is Jeno’s, i’ve seen him wearing it. Stop lying to yourself and admit he likes you.”

The boy grumbles something to himself and hugs his own body, taking in the faint citrus scent that oozed off it. “I can’t, like what if you guys are wrong and then i make myself out to be a fool? Just leave me alone, i can appreciate hanging out with him as it is…” He lies, because even if it was pleasant to just be around Jeno, he knew he longed for more. And maybe asking for more wasn’t so bad, it wasn’t like he knew Jeno for a long amount of time, he wouldn’t lose a lifelong friend or anything.

Just, maybe the idea of it all made his body turn cold even under all the layers of clothes.

And that in itself was too scary to deal with.

“Renjun.” Mark pushes Donghyuck out of the way, his calming voice makes Renjun actually pay attention and look his friend in the eye. “Most people go through heartbreak, it’s natural. But you will stay in this endless loop if you don’t decide to ever break it. Best to end it, pull it like a bandaid, and then let yourself heal.”

His lip trembles like a child being reprimanded, he can’t help it though. He wished his friends had never caught onto him, maybe then he could drown in his own despair like he was used to doing. Here, however, even if they knew they were pushing him too hard, they didn’t seem to want to step back and let Renjun do as he pleased. It was new to him, city people never thought it was their business and hence it meant Renjun had never really done anything. Nobody pushed him, it wasn’t like he was going to push his own self. He had always been stuck going with the flow, not swimming for what he wanted.

He wanted to change, he really did. “Okay.” The three boys shriek with happiness. “I will consider it, but don’t expect anything anytime soon…”

Donghyuck rolls his eyes and gets ready to fight him but Mark slaps the palm of his hand on top of the boy’s heart shaped lips and glares harshly. “That’s okay, but we won’t forget about this.” Mark smiles gently and so does Jaemin. “Now let’s go eat, i’m starving over here.”

 

 

 

Renjun had never been very good at focusing, he loved learning but not studying nor doing homework. That always made his head hurt, and even the little ant crossing his room was more interesting than the letters on the books he had been forced to read. He watches as the little animal leaves through the door after god-knows-how-long and then looks up at his naked ceiling that he still had left to decorate — nothing could be untouched by him if it was to belong to him, it was a Renjun rule — a loud sigh leaves his lips. He was bored, he couldn’t understand what the words even meant anymore, they just seemed to swim in his vision.

The boy sits on his bed with his toes brushing against the soft mustard yellow rug, the bed was too damn high for him and it made him feel like a child. “Anyways.” He mumbles as he gets up and stretches his whole body, a lazy smile spreads across his lips when he hears his joints crack. The clock barely hit twelve in the morning, it meant lunch wouldn’t be ready for another hour at least so he heads downstairs.

His parents were bundled together on the couch watching some random show, he comes closer and leans forward till his head was right in the middle of his parent’s. “You scared me!” His mother squeaks making both men chuckle.

“I’m going out.” Renjun states then kisses the woman’s cheek lightly. “I don’t know when i’ll come back, i might get lost and all. If i don’t come back before two then i’m probably not going to eat dinner with you guys. So just leave it inside the fridge for when i’m back?”

She rolls her eyes and pushes him away. “Sure whatever, he’s turned eighteen and thinks he can do as he pleases.”

“He thinks that because you let him do as he please-” The man starts but instantly gets cut off right away.

“Shut up.”

Renjun snorts, grabs Jeno’s jacket that he had still to give back but always forgot to when the night came — except, not really. “I’ll see you later then. Love you.”

“Love you too!” His parents say at the same time just as he closes the door and shivers at the cool Autumn breeze.

He walks about mindlessly, he didn’t really have a plan on what exactly he was thinking on doing apart from getting some fresh air to let his brain focus on his school duties again. Plus, every time he’d walk around, it felt as if it was the first. It had been just about over a month since he had come there and yet everything always felt so fresh still whereas before every city felt the same, every building, every monument. Nothing made his heart go _doki doki_ as Donghyuck often said.

“Renjun?!” Someone calls out in the distance, the voice comes so muffled the boy could’ve passed it as a whisper created by the wind blowing against his ears. But somehow he catches it and turns on his heels to figure out where it had come from.

Jeno stood leaning from the fence that separated his farm from the sidewalk with a grin that made his eyes almost disappear, Renjun can’t help but mimic his smile right away. The Jeno effect, once more, proved itself to be more powerful than he was. “Oh hi. I didn’t notice i was nearby.”

“Just wandering about, eh?” The boy smirks and does grabby hands as if asking for the other to move closer to him. “Wanna help me?”

“With that exactly?”

The other pouts while staring at the vast land. “Heck, there’s lots to do if you’re bored out of your mind really… Show me what the school has taught you! I know those muscles didn’t just pop out of nowhere.” He teases just as he latches his bigger hand around Renjun’s bicep that, to be fair, hadn’t even grown all that much (but Renjun still smiles like a fool at the praise).

“Well i am bored out of my mind…” He whispers. “Don't expect me to show you much, the others just assigned me with the shovels so i’d gain muscle faster.” Both of them chuckle as they walk parallel to each other towards the main gate.

“Your body must hurt.” Jeno pouts once again seemingly worried.

Renjun shrugs. “If i were to say it didn't i’d be lying but it’s getting better! Maybe soon i will start cultivating instead of just swinging those heavy spawns of satan up and down for almost one hour straight.”

Jeno chuckles and then, as he opens the gate for Renjun, a smug expression forms on his face. “That’s my jacket.” He points out, and indeed it was. Renjun had forgotten all about it. “I thought maybe you’ve lost it since you never gave it back.”

“I’m sorry!” He apologises while shaking his head. “I kept forgetting about it so i never gave it back, but you can have it no-”

“It’s cold, just keep it.”

The shorter stands starstruck near the gate as Jeno walks towards the fields ahead. “Wait, no i can’t-” He stares at the boy’s back as he moves further away and then snaps out of it, his shorter legs catch onto him pretty quickly though. “I will give it back.”

“I said you could keep it, i got many.” Jeno snorts and throws a shovel at Renjun’s arms carefully but the other almost misses his cue to catch it. “Careful.”

“You weren’t very careful there, hypocrite.”

Again, Jeno just snorts.

“Alright, ready to warm up?” He quirks his eyebrow at Renjun who nods.

 

Renjun lets himself collapse onto the earth, thankfully he had put on some of his old sport pants that he didn’t mind getting dirty. “Can we stop now?” He whines and throws his head back, taking in the weak sunlight that hit his slightly tanned skin. “Wait! You have animals don’t you?!”

Jeno chuckles. “I got many animals, yes.” He grabs the utensils so to put them back to their place in the little cabin nearby. “You want to see them?”

The boy perks up instantly, before Jeno knew, Renjun was already latching himself to him and looking up with the biggest puppy eyes he had ever seen. “Oh god please, what kind animals do you have?!” He asks excitedly, the stars in his eyes glint just like whenever they’d stare at the sky.

“I got rabbits, do you like them?”

“Oh my god, yes!” He squeaks while jumping up and down still clinging onto Jeno’s arm for dear life. “Do you have tiny ones too? I only ever played with big ones from pet stores…”

Jeno poke’s Renjun’s pouty lip by reflex and then retracts his arms right away as if the boy’s lips burnt his skin. They look at each other in pure silence for a few second before Jeno coughs awkwardly mumbling a Sorry and then dragging them both across the rocky pathway. “Yes, i got baby ones too.”

Renjun loved animals, any kind really, especially if they were babies. And yes maybe insects weren’t really his thing, but they didn’t scare him either. So if he had the choice of putting down the shovel for once and instead having the chance to pet some cute animals, there was no way he was going to waste that opportunity. “Are they inside?” He giggles when Jeno stops right in front of a hut.

“Yes but, please be calm and speak really softly. They hate loud noises especially because of the babies.” He warns. “Please do not drop them, i think i don’t need to tell you that though.”

“What do you take me for?” Renjun whisper yells and straightens up when Jeno starts opening the door. He awes out loud when his eyes catch a glimpse of the furry animal sitting in a big cage, he moves closer and pokes his finger inside the metal bars but Jeno slaps his hand away.

“That’s the male.” Jeno clicks his tongue. “He doesn’t really like being touched, in fact he doesn’t like us being in here since we are close to his babies.” Renjun looks up at him with his lips slightly parted, his eyes drift downwards for a split second before he looks at the seemingly peaceful rabbit. “He has to trust you first.”

Renjun nods and moves along, the other cages were more packed but still had a decent amount of space for the rabbits to move around. “Do you always keep them here?” He pets the nose of a black rabbit and then looks at the other boy.

“No, i got a space for them to just do their own thing. Right now though they like being around the babies so they refuse to even leave the cages.” Jeno explain and points at an opaque box. “Here, come see the baby balls of fur.”

The moment the lid is opened, Renjun slams both of his hands on top of his mouth to stop himself from aweing loudly. When he finally calms down after frantically jumping up and down a few times, the boy extends his arms inside the box and looks at Jeno for confirmation. “I can’t believe it, they’re just so cute!” He cries out as he holds the tiny animal with his hand. “It’s… I wanna squish it, it’s so cute.”

“Please do not!” Jeno’s eyes widen comically making Renjun snort.

“I wouldn’t, i’m not a psycho. Have some faith in me.” He smirks before going back to carefully petting the rabbit with his index. The tiny little thing doesn’t even move, Renjun would’ve thought it wasn’t alive if its body didn’t rise up and down whenever it breathed. “I don’t think i’ll be able to leave now, i want to stare at it forever.”

Jeno chuckles, he too had apparently picked a grey baby rabbit that he had placed in his cupped hands. Renjun smiles up at him and pets the other rabbit while his own slept peacefully on his small hand. “They really are the cutest. I come here so often i think the male is starting to hate me now.” The farmer laughs. “I feed him and yet he still has the guts to hate me? Unbelievable.”

Renjun laughs alongside him and keeps on petting the little ball of fur totally oblivious to the fact that Jeno was staring at his face the entire time, analysing every detail and imperfection with his eagle eyes. Those stars, that always shove brightly whenever Renjun was excited, they hypnotised him every single time. And yet Renjun seemed unaware of the fact that he carried a piece of space in his body just like that.

“We should go, i still have to milk the cow-”

“What?!”

“What, what?” Jeno snorts as he puts the animal back where it belonged, Renjun copies him with a pout on his lips. “I need to distribute milk tomorrow, the cow doesn’t just give me the milk in the bottles or anything. What do you think?”

The boy gapes like a fish, maybe he had forgotten all about the process of milking after only being told once when he was about eight years old. It was one of those things nobody ever thinks about in the city, you got the food right in front of you and you ingest it, you don’t stop to think _Oh where has this come from?_ But he supposed people here were still connected with the earth, whereas he was not.

He trails behind Jeno like usual and bites his lip, he wanted to learn. In fact, so far he was adoring learning so much about things he had never thought he’d like to learn about. Everyone turns a blind eye to the possibility of doing such works in urban areas. _Farming? Pft._ “Jeno.” He calls out and tugs at the boy’s T-shirt. “Teach me.”

“You want to milk the cow?” Renjun nods. “Sure, but can city boy do it without cringing?”

“Probably not.” He admits making Jeno laugh out loud.

“That’s alright, you’ll get used to it quickly i’m sure.”

 

 

“Oh god this feels so weird.” Renjun whines, hands latched around the cow’s teat. Jeno had told him to tug at it carefully but he can’t even get himself to keep his hand there for longer than five seconds without letting go. “It feels so weir-”

“You’re such a child come on now.” Jeno puts his own hand on top of Renjun’s and starts milking carefully, the trick only works because Renjun was too busy gushing about the fact that Jeno’s hand was on top of his to think about how weird it all felt. He snaps out of it at some point and looks down at the bucket that had been filled quite a bit, _maybe he was acting a bit too dramatically._

_Maybe._

“I’ll try on my own now.” He breathes out, the warmth of Jeno’s hand vanishes but he pushes down the urge to whine at that too and tries his best to not scare the cow away with his inexperienced hands. “This is still so weird.”

“You’re just a pervert.” Jeno snorts while petting the animal who seemed as unfazed as ever. At least Renjun knew his skills weren’t _that bad_ or else the animal wouldn’t be so calm. “See? You’re doing just fine.”

Renjun grumbles under his breath but deep down feels proud of himself and was awfully thankful for Jeno for always being so patient with him, even when they would only be stargazing the boy never once judged him for his lack of knowledge. He remembered clearly how pressured everyone was to know everything back where he lived, it was always a competition on who’s the smartest of them all. Renjun despised it all so much.

This, this felt nice. Being able to learn calmly and actually enjoy it. He couldn’t thank his parents enough for taking him out of that hellhole. “Woah, woah. Calm down.” Jeno warns when the cow starts acting slightly more jittery. “You blanked out over there, you can’t do that. You have to give it your full attention, i know it’s boring but-”

“No, no. Sorry i spaced out like that.” Renjun shakes his head apologetically.

“What were you thinking about?” Jeno drags a similar chair next to the other, he supports his head with the palm of his hands and stares intensely at the boy.

“Just…” He smiles fondly and steals the other a quick glance. “How much better it is to be here. Everyone is just so nice.”

Jeno grins brightly and reaches out to him so to ruffle his black locks. “I’m glad you like it here, everyone here likes you.” The smile doesn’t weaken even after seconds of silence. “I like you a lot too.”

Renjun comes to a halt and then slowly turns his head to face Jeno whose lips were firmly pressed against each other, but there wasn’t a single drop of regret in his eyes. “Really?” He asks, voice coming out slightly too high pitched for his liking. “I feel the same.”

“That makes me happy.” He admits with a chuckle. “I thought city boy would hate it here.”

“Not at all.” Renjun smiles. “I’ve never been this happy in my life.”

He goes back to doing his job in silence, the only sound was of the river nearby and bird chirping on the tree just above them. It wasn’t an awkward kind of silence, more of the peaceful kind where there wasn’t a need to speak to feel like a conversation was flowing. Jeno’s presence already felt good enough even if no words were being exchanged.

Suddenly, Jeno gets up and stays that way for a while. “I’m the happiest i’ve ever been too.” He admits just as he grabs an empty bucket and starts walking quickly towards the vast field in the direction of a group of cows, leaving a choked up Renjun alone with his thoughts.

 

 

 

 

“I just can’t believe you haven’t made a move yet.” Jaemin blurts out next to him during Maths. It had been so sudden that Renjun couldn’t help the coughing fit that followed.

At that point, if Jeno didn’t like him like that, then he really didn’t understand what exactly the other wanted. He too knew he should do something, but he was scared at the same time because never once in his life he had felt so romantically attracted to someone. He had dated, surely, but it had never felt so genuine and strong. So it was scary if he were to lose all that because dating had many pros but it too came with its many cons.

Those cons scared him the most.

“I don’t know, Na.” He mumbles many minutes later when his coughing had stopped and the lesson returned to its natural pace without the teacher having to stop to make sure one of her students wasn't going to die midway. “It’s scary.”

“You’re always so scared, before it was that he didn’t like you. Now what?”

Renjun chews on his lip and looks out through the window onto the beautiful gardens the students made. “It’s been so little maybe i wanna cling to how nice it feels before i fuck it up.” He sighs. “Everyone that dates ends up ruining things.”

“Where’d you get that from?!” His friend whisper yells. “Most couple i’ve seen are together even now.”

The boy looks at Jaemin again, eyebrows furrowed. “Maybe things really work way too differently in the city.” He flicks his pen against his lips while thinking. “When it happens, i’ll let it happen. For now i’m happy the way we are.”

“Whatever, Jun.” Jaemin sighs deeply. “Just don’t let him slip through your fingers like sand, because i know you will regret it.”

“I won’t.” Renjun says, voice filled with determination. “I won’t let Jeno go just like that.”

 

 

 

Under the dark blanket of the night everything always seemed to become more mesmerising, more poetic, more intense. Under the dark blanket of the night, Jeno still shone as bright as ever.

Renjun can't take his eyes off the boy’s face as he stared up at the sky through the telescope apparently trying to find something specific he wanted to show Renjun. If it was up to the other, he could spend the whole night searching so he would just keep on staring shamelessly. “Found it!” Jeno exclaims, and so the night spell breaks.

He drifts his eyes away from Jeno pretending to have been busy analysing the sky instead and then hums. “Can i see?” Renjun hops from the window sill onto the floor with a little thud.

Jeno backs away slightly to give space for Renjun, but definitely not enough that their bodies weren't touching. He places his hand on Renjun’s back naturally and moves his thumb soothingly, Renjun didn't know if he even noticed what he was doing or not but either way it was making him want to mewl. The boy licks his lips and forces down the sigh of contentment that threatens to leave his lips, and instead he tries focusing his attention on whatever Jeno wanted him to see so badly.

“Woah, i can see the moon’s crater so well like this…”

“Right? I wish i could go there, walk about in a deserted place like that must be chilling but so beautiful. So untouched.” The boy mumbles mostly to himself.

“When i was younger i often dreamed of exploring the moon, when the mood was full i’d try to see the craters. Obviously they weren't any good compared to this” Renjun looks at Jeno for a faction of a second before going back to looking through the telescope. “It seems to be so close, but it isn't. Space is so out of reach sometimes i feel suffocated on Earth.”

“The more we know about the universe the more we wish to explore, eh?” Jeno chuckles sadly. “Sometimes i wish i was oblivious to it all, maybe then Earth would feel satisfying.”

Silence falls. Renjun didn't know what to say, Jeno sounded extremely sad — more than he had ever expected the boy to be over that topic. He straightens himself and looks at the other who still had his hand on his back but his sole focus was on the stars outside. Jeno looked gorgeous, he always did, and the grey reflexes of his face made him look even more like a Greek statue rather than a Human.

 _I want to kiss him_ , Renjun finally concludes after (quite creepily) analysing his whole face. His eyes were glued to Jeno’s lips and he felt unable to look away, even when the other turns to face him. Even if he knew he had gotten caught, it was as if his subconscious didn't care for it.

“Renjun.” His lips move deliciously, the way his name flowed huskily was so enchanting Renjun felt he might melt right there and then. “Renjun.” Jeno calls again and finally the boy feels the spell break and reality slap him in the face.

Yet, he doesn't apologise for staring so intensely. Not when Jeno’s cheeks were visibly flushed pink even under the scarce moonlight. There wasn't really anything to be sorry about, he knew it deep down.

Slowly the room seems to illuminate itself in a faint pear aqua hue and if Renjun already thought the boy in front of him was gorgeous, that just accentuated his beliefs. He doesn't notice just how close their faces had gotten until he feels Jeno’s hot breath hit his nose, Renjun looks up at the boy’s glinting eyes and sucks in a breath.

He had never kissed first, very much like the stereotype; city boys seemed to want nothing but things to be practical and quick. No room for hesitation or second thoughts like at that moment. So others always did the first move for him. “Jeno.” Renjun breathes out and licks his lips, but just as he was about to be begged to be kissed, he notices how shaky Jeno’s lips were.

His eyes widen in realisation. He had never considered that possibility. “Have you never kissed before?” He asks gently scared Jeno might feel awkward if asked so directly but the boy seems to relax at that and nods weakly. “Woah, everyone thinks you're this unattainable god…”

"That's why i don't open up to them." Jeno says before Renjun could say anything else, he drifts his eyes towards the window shyly.

The other giggles as he pokes Jeno’s nose. "You opened up to me though.” Renjun smiles widely when a slight pout forms on Jeno’s lips. "Why?”

“You make me feel what people tend to call home.” He blurts out and then closes his eyes as if pretending he wasn't there to witness what his actions might create.

Renjun places his hand on top of Jeno’s cold cheek and delicately turns the boy’s head so they'd look into each other’s eyes. “You can seek shelter in me, i promise you.” And then, by impulse, clashes their lips together.

It feels right, it feels soft and like everything good in the world. Renjun lets Jeno process what he had just done before tenderly moving his lips, it makes the other make a yelping noise from the back of his throat — and it amused Renjun way more than he would like to admit, after all perfect boy Jeno had a weakness.

Except that doesn't last very long because the moment Jeno gets the hang of it, he deepens the kiss as if looking to satisfy an insatiable desire that Renjun’s soft kisses could not reach. His arms finally wrap around the boy’s slimmer frame and rest there for a while as Renjun caresses his scalp with both of his hands on the sides of Jeno’s neck.

Then it's Renjun’s turn to yelp when two strong hands grab onto his thighs and pull his legs up, he instantly wraps them around Jeno’s torso to secure himself only to have the other throw him onto the bed nearby. “Are you okay?” He croaks out as he crawls on top of Renjun who nods with a faint smile on his lips.

“Never been better.” He whispers before tugging at Jeno’s shirt to pull him down.

Their lips meet, over and over again. Renjun knew they'd probably be bruised the next morning and yet he still longed for more whenever the other pulled away slightly. As cliché as it might sound, he felt intoxicated.

“You have to go home, Injun…” Jeno mumbles their lips brush against each other as he speaks from their proximity. Renjun whines loudly as a protest to that idea, he wanted nothing but to spend the night there kissing Jeno until the sun rose in the horizon. “Stop complaining.” Jeno growls and latches his hands around Renjun’s wrists bringing them up so they'd be parallel to the boy’s face.

“I guess you have to make me go home.” Renjun pokes his tongue out, but doesn't expect Jeno to actually lift him up and throw him on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “Hey! Are you serious?!” He swings his limbs all over the place but that doesn't stop the other from effortlessly walking towards the kitchen to grab a coat for both of them.

“You can come by tomorrow it's not like i’m going anywhere.”

“That's a whole day!” Renjun whines while being put down. “I already miss your lips.”

Jeno chokes up on his own spit and throws the coat right in the other’s face. “Stop that it's way past your curfew i’m already being benevolent.”

“Fine, i suppose it's fine that you don't want my kisses.” The boy huffs and heads towards the door, jacket already on ready for the cold October air that was sure to make every fibre in his body freeze.

Jeno snakes his arms around Renjun’s torso and pulls him close so the boy’s back was tightly pressed against his chest. He bends down to leave a chaste kiss on Renjun’s nape and then rests his head on his neck. “I think it's best we give it a break anyways or you might not be able to move your lips for a while.” He chuckles, hot breath hitting the shell of Renjun’s ear.

“Yeah okay _tiger_.” The other teases bitterly ignoring the goosebumps that had decided to show up against his will. “Take me home then.”

“Whatever your majesty desires.” Jeno snorts as he opens the door.

Renjun smiles maliciously and locks their arms together seeking some kind of warmth. “He desires to be kissed the whole night-”

“Some wishes are inconceivable, i’m afraid.”

“Goddamnit.”

 

 

 

He paces around his room, it had already been about one hour since the time Jeno usually came to pick him up and he was nowhere to be seen. His mind kept on drifting to the worst possible scenario, Jeno had regretted it and didn’t want to hear from him again. But that didn’t sound like something the other would do just like that, he didn’t know Jeno for very long but he refused to believe he’d be a piece of shit like that.

“Have you heard from Jeno today?” Renjun asks his parents after giving up and heading downstairs.

“No sweetheart, he didn’t deliver anything today.” The woman responds not noticing how nervous her son was since her attention was on the screen.

The boy chews on his bottom lip and grabs his coat. “I’m heading out.”

“Alone?!” She finally snaps out and perks up to look at him, face full of worry. “Without Jeno? I’m sure he’s just late-”

“I’m going to check up on him, that’s all.” Renjun opens the door, a shiver runs down his spine from both the cold and fear of what was expecting him. “Don’t worry, i will stick to the curfew.”

“He’s eighteen, he should start looking after himself.” His father pulls the woman into his embrace and waves his son goodbye. “Take care.”

Renjun nods weakly and closes the door behind him, the cool night greets him silently. He hates the fear that just kept on building up the closer he gets to the big farm, the only sound filling his ears was the sole of his shoes hitting the floor unlike the sound of their voices like he was used to. It feels off to be all alone in the middle of the night, suddenly he feels awfully exposed.

He quickens his pace and finds himself in front of the gate, there was no other option but climb over it even if he hated the idea of looking like he was breaking into someone’s house. His shoes smack against the rocky pathway and right away he feels Ruby rub herself on his legs as if greeting her second owner, he smiles and gives her a little pat on the head. “Hello baby.” He whispers and starts walking ahead hoping that the little amount of times he had come over helped him figure his way around the dark.

A pale purple light shines through one of the windows when his hand touches the handle which makes him stop and suck in a breath. Jeno was in there after all.

Even if he felt like an intruder, Renjun refuses to back out after having come all the way there. Plus, he refused to leave without an explanation. He turns the handle and watches as the door opens to reveal pitch black ahead and, in the distance, the faint lightning peaked through the door crack. The sound of his gulping hurts his ears from just how quiet his surroundings were, and he can’t help but cringe when the floor creaks as he starts walking in the direction of Jeno’s room.

“Jeno?” He calls out when he’s close enough to touch the handle.

“Wait!” The boy shrieks, the colour peeking through shifts into a more reddish hue. Renjun furrows his eyebrows and lets his arm flop down again.

“What’s wrong? Why can’t i come in?” Renjun tries with the softest voice he could muster.

Something falls onto the floor with a little thud and slowly the light vanishes. “Sorry i had my glasses on, i didn’t want you to see that.” That sounds like the shittiest excuse to Renjun but with how weak the other sounded he couldn’t find in him the desire to be pushy. “I’m not feeling very good today, that’s why i didn’t come over.”

Renjun comes closer to the door and presses the palm of hand on the door then lowers his head until his forehead hits wooden surface. “Can i come in? Are you sick?”

“Yes.” His husky voice makes Renjun’s skin become filled with goosebumps. “I don’t know if you want to come in, i look like shit.”

“Shut up and let me in, idiot.”

The door opens slowly enough for the boy to step back and straighten himself up. “You look just fine, i can’t stand you.” Renjun grumbles and caresses the side of Jeno’s face gently. “You’re so cold.”

Jeno just hums, letting his head hang towards the side Renjun was caressing and closes his eyes. They stay that way until the other forces Jeno to sit on the bed to better analyse him, the sick boy stares at him with his famous eagle eyes observing his every move. “You look so pretty.”

“Shut up.” Renjun snorts. “When did this happen?”

“I don’t know i woke up feeling like shit.” Jeno pouts.

“Get under the shee-” He starts but doesn’t finish because Jeno sprints past him out through the door towards the bathroom, vomiting sounds follow and then a faint sigh of relief. “Jeno? Is it that bad?!”

Renjun turns on the light and peaks through the bathroom door. Jeno was kneeling by the toilet with his head hanging low and panting slightly, when the boy tries cleaning the corner of his mouth is when Renjun catches a glimpse of the weird grey substance instead of vomit like he was expecting.

“What is that?”

Jeno closes his eyes, his shoulder sag down with exhaustion. “Medicine.” He croaks out weakly before flopping against the cold wall and flushing everything down with his last remaining energy. “I feel i’m going to die.”

“Is there anything i can do?” Renjun kneels next to him with toilet paper and clean him up better, Jeno was far too tired to oppose to it so he lets him do as he pleases even if that meant he had to be treated like a baby. “Tea? Does that help?”

“No, food doesn’t help.” Jeno pulls Renjun into his embrace. “I know this isn’t the best place, but can you just stay for a while?”

Renjun moves the hair falling in front of Jeno’s eyes to the side and then places a kiss right in the middle of his forehead. “If that’s any good then…” He whispers and keeps on peppering little kisses all over the boy’s face and hands, Jeno’s whole body seemed so insipid it hurt to even look at. It was as if he was dead but his chest still rose and fell calmly.

The other cracks one eye semi open and weakly runs his fingers up and down Renjun’s jaw. “Are you sure you’re human?” His voice comes out so little the other barely hears it.

“I could say the same for you with a face like that.” Renjun smiles. “Are you really human? Sounds fake.”

Jeno lets out a faint chuckle. “Yeah…” He lets his limb flop down and closes his eye again. “I suppose it does sound fake, doesn’t it?”

Renjun looks at the boy with a puzzled look. “Are you sure you don’t need to seek a doctor? You sound awfully sick.”

“I’m fine.” Jeno reassures him. “Please just don’t leave me.”

“I won’t ever.”

 

 

 

“I can’t believe you’re really going with _the_ Jeno Lee.” Donghyuck blurts out while they were getting ready at Mark’s house, the boy grabs his witch hat and adjusts it till he finds it looks perfect. “That’s mind-blowing, i never seen Jeno date-”

“We aren’t dating.” Renjun mumbles.

“Oh please.” Jaemin rolls his eyes and stops blow drying his hair that had been slicked back with gel. “You guys act like you’re dating, just because none of you asked so far doesn’t mean you’re not dating.”

Donghyuck secures Renjun’s face with his thumb and pinky on each side of his face. “Stay put i’m going to do your makeup now.” He warns. “And Jaemin is right, Mark tell him Jaemin is right.”

“Jaemin is right.” Mark says absent minded as he tried to secure his red horns on the top of his head without smudging the red paint on his face in the process.

“Thank you.” Jaemin bows down dramatically.

“I feel there’s something missing for us to be dating, though.” Renjun pouts. “Like, maybe i do feel the need for him to ask me to date him? Maybe that is what is missing…”

“You’re just overthinking like usual.” Jaemin sighs. “There is nothing missing, you’re just an idiot.”

“Jee thank Jaemin.” The boy scoffs and then whimpers when Donghyuck slaps his arm so he’d remember to stay put.

Jaemin blinks at the mirror after putting on his contact lenses — that had taken about two month to get there which was baffling to Renjun but apparently normal if you were to order things from the city. He then stares intensely into the boy’s eyes with his now red one’s. “If it bothers you so much, maybe you should do the asking.”

Renjun frowns — inwardly of course or else Donghyuck would hit him again — and then sighs. Jaemin was right. “Fine, maybe i will then.” He closes his eyes at Donghyuck’s request, pictures of Jeno’s big grin flash across his eyelids but instead of relaxing that only makes him become even more nervous about being the one to take that step as well.

_It was dumb to fear rejection now, was it not?_

 

 

Droplets of his drink fall onto the floor as he chokes up when he feels an arm snake around his waist out of the blue. “Are you okay?!” That familiar voice, that always managed to calm him down, sounds just behind him.

Renjun massages his throat and turns around only to be greeted with a Grim Reaper costume, but the person’s lips weren’t undoubtedly Jeno’s. “You scared the living shit out of me.” He croaks out and puts the cup down in the table nearby before wrapping his arms around the boy’s neck and pecking his lips. “Am i allowed to kiss Death or will it take me with her?”

Jeno chuckles and pushes the hood off so that his whole face could be seen, his golden locks somehow look browner than the last time Renjun had seen them. “It’s kind of impossible to kill a skeleton don’t you think?” He snorts.

“Oh right.” Renjun looks down at his outfit and facepalms. “I totally forgot about that one detail.”

“You look gorgeous.” Jeno praises softly making the other giggle. “I guess we came matching somehow, uh?”

He nods cutely and twirls the brown locks with his index. “Couple costumes, eh?” Renjun bites his bottom lip and stares right into Jeno’s eyes looking for a negative reaction but the boy’s eyes seemed to glint at the comment. “Do you dance?”

“Indeed.” Jeno grabs Renjun’s hand and starts running towards the dance floor before the other could even process what was going on. “Dance with me, Injun.” He squeezes the boy’s hips over the soft skeleton suit and pulls him closer making Renjun yelp loudly.

“I- I don’t dance-”

Jeno bends down slightly so that his mouth was mere centimetres from Renjun’s ear, even his breath feels cold. “Let yourself go, anyone can dance.”

Renjun stares right into his eyes when the other moves back to his original position and then nods weakly. He keeps his eyes on Jeno’s as he starts moving his body, slowly at first but it doesn’t take very long until he loses himself in the typical Halloween music and the boy’s bright eyes.

 

“I forgot how pretty the school’s gardens are.” Jeno whispers, his hand brushes past the vegetation as they walk through the fields. “It’s making me miss school.”

“Jeno.” Renjun says with his arms wrapped around the boy’s torso like a Koala. “Why didn’t you pursue more? You’re so smart, you could be someone.”

The other stops in his tracks and looks up at the sky, a long sigh escapes his lips. “Am i not someone?”

“I didn’t mean it like that, but you could do so much more with that brain of yours.” He mumbles with his face stuffed on the boy’s back. “You could go to Harvard i’m sure, you’re phenomenal.”

Jeno chuckles and plays with the other’s fingers gently. “I don’t want to be someone if that’s what being someone is like. Maybe that’s what they tell you in the city.”

“The ultimate goal is to achieve something big.” Renjun shrugs. “School, university. Hopefully a high paying job.”

“What’s the point in that, though, if you’re nothing but miserable?” He turns around to face Renjun who looked like a lost cat, looking up at him with his big star filled eyes that held nothing but confusion. “I hate studying, i like learning but on my own. And plus, i am doing something with my life.”

“What’s that?”

“One day you’ll know.”

The other wants to push it so that Jeno would explain what his vague words meant, but someone interrupts their little moment and so he has to give it up for the moment. “Hey you guys! We’ll be heading to the park now, are you coming?” Mark shouts in the distance.

Renjun perks up and starts jumping up and down filled with excitement. “We’re on our way!”

“You’re really going to a haunted house? You’re tipsy.”

“Even better!”

Jeno groans and rubs his forehead with his index. “Idiot.”

“Can people stop calling me that?!” Renjun whines like a child while crossing his arms on top of his chest.

“Maybe if you stopped being a-”

“Finish that phrase and i won’t kiss you ever again, Jeno Lee.”

Jeno puts his arms up in surrender and does a zipper motion above his lips. “Anything but the kisses.”

 

 

Maybe he was an idiot but even if he was about to shit his pants the moment the haunted house’s door closed, Renjun couldn’t get himself to regret coming. He holds tightly onto Jeno’s hand and brings it closer to his mouth so to warm it up with his breath, but soon enough he forgets all about that when he feels something crawl up his arm.

He lets out a loud shriek and then sobs while trying to get rid of whatever that could’ve been, he doesn’t get to calm down because something pokes at his back to keep on moving. “Jeno cut it out, let me stop for a bit you asshole!”

“That wasn’t me!” Jeno shouts back at him.

Someone grabs shirt harshly making him fall onto his knees but in the pitch black room he can’t see who exactly it had been, he was sure it hadn’t been Jeno whose shrieks seemed so awfully distant now. His tipsy brain started spinning slightly but even then he tries his best to get himself back up and follow after Jeno.

The further he walked through the corridor the harsher his heart seemed to hammer inside his chest, and even when he reaches a part where a dim orange light lights up his surroundings Renjun still felt just as lost as if it was pitch black. Nothing happens for quite some time, then something pops in front of him out of the blue. He closes his eyes as a loud yelp leaves his lips but, when he opens his eyes, a ragdoll is all he sees.

Renjun lets out a sigh of relief only to be greeted by a bloody zombie the second after, it sprinted in his direction as maniac laughter played through the speakers. “Stop!” He cries out and kicks the person right in the face before running the furthest he could from them. “Jeno?! Where are you?!”

He reaches a seemingly empty room, and before he could walk right out when he notices there was no door to keep on going, the door behind him clicks closed. Renjun smacks his fist against it while begging to be freed until he hears a groan behind him. “Oh fuck no.” He cries when three monsters start walking in his direction. “Do i get sued if i punch you?” The boy asks knowing full well they weren’t going to reply back.

_Damnit._

Scanning the room gave him nothing, there was seemingly no way out apart from the door he had just come inside from. He whimpers and slides on the floor slickly passing through the middle of two of the monsters, they turn around slowly and change their trajectory to haunt him again. “I’m going to die.” Renjun sighs but still refuses to blurt the safe word, he refused to give up. “JENO?!”

Nobody responds which meant Jeno must’ve been far gone, or even out already out of the house knowing just how smart he was. “Okay okay, so if i can’t hurt you guys then what the fuck am i suppo-” One of the monsters lifts him up in the air while tugging at his shirt. “Damnit how strong are you guys? I’m doomed.” He flaps his legs around to try and hit the monster — well, person disguised as monster who was probably laughing at how helpless he looked.

“JENO!” He shouts i desperation again as if that’d help him in any way just as he gets slammed against the wall, not hard enough to hurt but hard enough to make him want to cry like a baby.

The rooms blue hues shift into a more reddish colour and then there’s a loud smack on the door outside. It wasn’t a very strong door even Renjun managed to almost make it open with the little strength he had gained over the past months. “Renjun?” Jeno calls out and slams his body against the old door once again.

“WAIT! Won’t they make us pay if you brea-”

He doesn’t quite get to finish his sentence for the loud noise of the door flopping onto the floor cuts him off, and maybe if Jeno’s eyes weren’t lit up like lasers Renjun would’ve cried out at how much that would cost. “What the fuck?” One of the monsters says. “When did we add this to the show?”

“Man i don’t know-” Another one says and then yelps when Jeno bumps past him and knocks him so hard he slides across the room. “Uh?”

“Jeno what’s going on?” Renjun asks in the middle of the mess that had unleashed inside the room, but instead of a reply Jeno simply picks him up as if he weighed a feather and dashes out of the room leaving the three actors looking awfully confused.

“I fucked up.” Jeno sounds so sad that even in the middle of his confused and terrified state Renjun can’t help but want to hug him close. “I fucked up so bad.”

“Tell me what’s going on.” Renjun looks right into Jeno’s eyes who now glowed in a more pale yellow rather than the strong red of minutes before.

He shakes his head, sparkly tears run down his cheek as he puts Renjun down. “I’m so sorry.” Is all Jeno says before dashing into the darkness illuminating his surroundings in yellow.

Renjun can’t move for he feels unable to, he just watches as the yellow fades away and darkness enfolds him.

 

 

 

Things have changed.

Many things, in fact.

Renjun doesn't tell anyone about the incident simply that Jeno and he had headed home early when really Renjun had spent about two hours searching all around the place only to give up and head home by himself.

Now it was just him alone and his thoughts that hadn't stopped racing till then, three days later. Three days without Jeno, it felt wrong, it felt as if time was just dragging itself. Obviously he was no good at hiding his sadness, everyone around him kept asking what was wrong but he felt unable to utter a single word.

He wanted to understand and yet was also terrified of it. What was he going to do with whatever explanation he might get? Whenever he thought of Jeno his heart still beat full of fondness and yet a tad of fear, those bright red eyes popped up in his head again and suddenly the fear consumed him.

Though he supposed dragging himself around was no way to live either.

That's why he finds himself swinging his legs so he could sit on his bed instead of laying down and mentally prepares himself to head out and finally face things. It takes quite some time but he manages to get himself to head downstairs. “I'm going out.” He mumbles, jacket already on and ready to go.

“Uh?!” His dad looks at him with wide eyes. “You look like you might collapse at any second.”

“I have something i really must do.”

“Can't it wait till it's not dark outside?” His mother joins in, face contorted in worry.

“I don't know when i’ll find the courage, so i must do it now.” Renjun opens the door. “Don't worry i can fetch myself just fine.”

And then the door shuts closed. Fear ran through his veins but Renjun refused to turn back.

Here goes nothing.

 

 

A chill runs down his spine when he finds himself in front of the gate, he couldn't see anything but what was just ahead of him and it was taking everything in him to not let his mind wander into dark places. _What hides in the shadows?_ Renjun couldn't know but he wouldn't allow himself to care either.

He climbs over easily but Ruby isn't there to greet him this time. _Don't think about it just keep on going._

His hand touches the cold metal handle, he looks up but no light seems to shine from Jeno’s room. That light, it had come from Jeno all along. Somehow he felt dumb for not putting two and two together but there was just no way he'd ever consider such a thing anyways.

The same creepy creaking sounds come through the door and then he's greeted with darkness, a vast expanse of just darkness. Renjun takes a step inside, he could hear his own heartbeat in his ears drumming louder than any disco music. He felt he might puke from how anxious he felt walking in the seemingly deserved house.

He just wondered where Jeno was.

Once he’s right in front of the bedroom’s door, Renjun stops and tries calming himself down. He was scared, either he faced Jeno or the boy wouldn't even be there. He didn't know which one was worse.

The sound of the door opening makes him cringe, his whole body felt it was on fire. “Jeno?” He croaks out shakily as if he was about to cry.

A faint light coming from the moon just outside the window paints the room a little clearer, his eyes adapt to the slight brightness and then he lets out an involuntary loud yell when he finds coal coloured eyes staring at him in the corner of the room. Jeno looked like a demon come from the horror movies he often watched, but he — just like the dumb people from the movies — feels unable to move away even if his body had started shaking in fear.

“Why are you here?” Jeno’s voice was so weak, it came out as a whisper.

“I- Wanted to-” Renjun breathes in sharply. “I can't live not understanding.”

“I'm hideous.” The boy’s body was hidden from the moonlight, Renjun could only see the outline of his face.

“Please stop i just want to talk.”

Jeno chuckles bitterly. “If i give you answers, i’m doomed. If i don't, you'll leave. I suppose you'll leave either way though.” It felt as every word that left the boy’s mouth hurt to pronounce.

“You can't know that.”

“You can't look me in the eye, because i scare you. Of course you'll leave, i can't blame you.”

Renjun closes his eyes tightly and stabs his nails against the palm of his hand. “Well Jeno you can't expect me to be used to this, whatever it is. But i said i’d stay forever.”

“You didn't know back then.”

“I still don't! I don't know anything, i don't understand any of this.” The boy huffs. “But i still long for you even then.”

From behind his eyelids, Renjun could see the room had become brighter. Shades of pink fill his vision and so he opens his eyes with curiosity. He looks over to Jeno whose eyes weren't demon like, instead they glinted with pink sparkles that shone so bright the whole room lit up.

Renjun opens his mouth astonished but no words leave his mouth with just how shocked he felt.

“You want me still?” Jeno’s tremulous voice breaks the silence.

“I…” The other breathes out. “I do, i came for explanations because i want to understand. That's all.”

Pink tears run down the boy’s cheeks and seem to be never-ending even after Renjun falls onto his knees in front of Jeno to pull him into his embrace. He finds his hair to be completely dark, almost black even. “Your hair…”

“I haven't eaten in a while.” Jeno says in-between sobs. “I was killing myself slowly.”

“Jeno…” Renjun says sternly. “Please stop it, please eat.”

He nods against the other’s chest. “I will show you everything, i want to.” Finally the crying seems to cease. “Even if you can't love me after even if i end up in some secret lab, i want to show you.”

“I wouldn't.” Renjun promises filled with determination. “I promise you.”

“Okay.” Jeno whispers weakly and squeezes the boy in his embrace as if he was going to vanish if he didn't. “I trust you.”

 

 

The Night Sun radiated brightly in the city’s core, if it wasn’t for Jeno’s limp body hanging onto his side, Renjun would’ve probably stood in the middle of the street admiring it for hours. “Just a little longer.” Jeno mumbles weakly. He looked like a zombie from how grey his skin colour was, his hair was more black than brown and his sunken eyes surrounded by a dark shadow had no glint to them anymore. The sight scared Renjun but he refused to let Jeno know, he refused to let Jeno he felt afraid of him.

When they get close enough to the glowing ball Jeno lets himself fall out of Renjun’s hold and falls against it, then slowly gets up with wobbly legs and looks right into the boy’s eyes as he places both of his hands on the object.

“Stay calm.” He pleads and then closes his eyes.

Renjun just watches as the glow rises up from his hands towards the top of his head, his whole body turned into a shade of gold for a few seconds before fading completely except for his hair who shone just as bright as the sphere. Jeno opens his eyes that glint brightly, almost blindingly so, and then smiles sadly.

It was as life had returned right back to him in a matter of minutes. Renjun couldn’t process it.

“This isn’t the explanation bu-”

“If you could’ve just done this all along why didn’t you?!”

Jeno bites his lip, his head falls in shame. “Because you liked me so much that it hurt to be reminded that i’m not human.” He admits quietly but loud enough for the boy to hear it from where he stood. “Because after you found out i’m not normal i didn’t want to live.”

“I thought you were smart, Jeno.” Renjun frowns sadly and starts walking closer to the other, he needed to touch him to feel all of that wasn’t simply a weird dream.

“You make me act stupid.” The boy curls his fingers, nails stabbing onto the palm of his hand painfully. “Don-” The moment their hands touch, it was as if a wave of electricity shot across Renjun’s whole body. He hisses loudly and pulls his hand against his chest, eyes wide in shock and confusion.

“To put it into simple words, i was recharged. I’m sorry, did that hurt-”

“I’m fine.” He assures him calmly. “What is this then?”

Jeno looks down at the so called Night Sun, he twirls his finger on the clear glass and watches as sparkly trail follows behind. “This is going to sound so, well, ridiculous.” He chuckles. “After watching so many human movies i feel my own story sounds more like science fiction than real life, sometimes i question myself if maybe i’m just insane and making these things up.”

He pauses for some time and Renjun lets him because no matter how badly he needed answers to the questions shooting all over his brain, it was understandable that finding the words to explain it weren’t easy. Jeno looked so distressed that he couldn’t help but want to touch him again, though it was best he shouldn’t. Not yet, at least.

“Okay well. My, uh, civilization?” He cringes. “Whatever you want to call it really, they’ve been spying on Earth for quite some time. In fact this thing over here is basically their eyes. It’s not like those magical balls that they can see like a camera or anything but it feeds off emotion, weather changes, earth changes, you name it really. They can detect changes that way and see how humans work but it wasn’t doing that great of a job i suppose, or maybe they wanted a deeper insight.”

“Are you… A spy?”

“In the end, yes. But not because i want to, but because i either come here regularly to charge up or i die.” The boy chuckles bitterly. “I don’t really know how it works they try to make me as human as possible, which means i don’t know what is going on. I’m just a dumb human hybrid in their eyes probably. And yet everyone around here thinks i’m this oh so smart dude. Compared to this-” He smacks his fist on the sphere’s surface, but it doesn’t budge. “I’m pathetic.”

Renjun grabs Jeno’s hand, droplets of gold blood run down their fingers, and even if the electricity burns his hand to the point where he can’t help but wince, he doesn’t let go. Slowly, Jeno seems to calm down and forces the boy to let go before he got badly burnt. Renjun does let go reluctantly, scared Jeno might try and hurt himself again maybe worse that time around.

He runs his bloody hand through his glowy locks and lets out a broken sob. “Surely i’m this improved version of a human but i’m stuck here forever or else i die and plus my sole living purpose is being a lab rat.”

“Maybe that’s what you were born for but that doesn’t mean you can’t make something more out of your existence.” Renjun whispers softly seeing how Jeno’s hands were twitching against the hard surface again.

“It feels wrong to let anyone in, first because i’m scared i’ll get churned like those witches or some bullshit. Second, every emotion i feel will just be used as experiment. It’s like i have no fucking privacy.” Boiling hot tears run down his cheek and the moment they land on the object, they instantly turn into bubbles and then vanish into thin air. “And i had the choice to not let you in but like i just told you, i feel dumb around you and it sucks Renjun. I didn’t want to come here because i didn’t want them to know i love someone, so i stopped coming even if i knew that meant i was slowly killing myself. Then you found out and maybe i didn’t really care if i was to die.” He snorts, his eyes turn to crescents for a few seconds before his face falls again. “That sounds dramatic.”

“When can i touch you again?” The other asks, voice so shaky it was obvious he was on the verge of crying as well. “I want to hug you but you won’t let me.”

“You’ll get burnt, don’t.” Jeno moves away slightly and then sighs deeply. “I guess there’s more to it, i’m not completely in the dark i got some information so i could understand the basics.” He taps his nails on the Night Sun, creating a soft little tune that echoed in the silent night. “Only Mrs. Yeul knew, when she died i felt i would be alone forever with this weighting me down, so i used the bit of land she owned and created a farm. Because then i’m not alone, i got animals that care for me without asking questions and if my mind is thinking more than it should, i can always do some gardening.”

Renjun grinds his teeth against each other to suppress the need to reach out, he felt guilty for simply watching Jeno fall apart in front of his eyes like that. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m happy. Really i am.” Jeno smiles weakly. “And when you asked me why i don’t leave, i didn’t really lie. I’m happy this way, though it does feel bitter to not be able to just leave forever.”

Before Jeno could flinch away, Renjun wraps his arms around his torso and buries his head on his warm chest. He knew soon it’d start hurting just like taking a boiling hot shower, but for a few seconds it warmed his body from the cool Autumn night. “This is fine.” He massages his back softly. “It’s fine, i’m fine with it. Let’s just go home for now.”

“Right, the curfew.” The boy pets the black locks for a bit before pushing Renjun away.

“I don’t care for it, i just think it’s already so much for me to process.” He chews on his bottom lip. “Can you sleepover at mine’s, please?”

“Your parents-”

“Won’t notice.” Jeno rolls his eyes but doesn’t fight back again, because deep down he didn’t think he could head home as if nothing had happened just like that. “One last thing, though… Your eyes, what’s up with your eyes?”

The boy blinks back at him in confusion before he finally understood what Renjun was asking about. “Right, so you know how humans can tell other’s emotions more easily with expressions?” Renjun nods. “I can do that too because i’m a hybrid, but like i still have traits from my species and they show emotions with colours.”

“Wait what the fuck that’s so cool.” He shrieks and Jeno looks back at him shocked at the reaction — he hadn’t expected that, out of all the scenarios that crossed through his mind Renjun being excited over his qualities wasn’t something he considered. “Do you know which one each means?”

“I do.” Jeno snorts.

“So i’m guessing red is anger, or fear?”

He nods. “Anger, fear is yellow or bright green.”

“Then what’s love?” Renjun smiles softly, face mere centimetres away from Jeno’s.

“Pink.” He answers as he bends down and captures the boy’s lips for a sweet short while, just before the warmth got too much and burnt Renjun’s pretty lips. “Love is pink.”

 

 

 

 

The sunshine rays hitting his eyes hurt and, sadly, end up waking him up from his lovely slumber. Renjun rubs his eyelids to wake up completely and then slowly cracks both of his eyes open only to have his breath knocked out of his lungs when he’s met with Jeno’s serene face glowing with the morning sun. His hair, that was just as gold as the sun itself, looked unreal so up close that Renjun couldn’t help but carefully move his hand to caress it.

He must’ve spent quite some time that way for his bicep started hurting from the position he was in, with his elbow pointing up at the ceiling to make sure his arm wouldn’t wake up Jeno by accident. But even with his efforts, the other does end up waking up with a lazy smile spreading across his face the moment he realizes what exactly Renjun was up to.

“Morning.” His husky, even lower than usual, voice breaks the peaceful melody that the birds outside created with their soft chirping.

“Morning.” Renjun copies and then furrows his eyebrows. “Aliens don’t have morning breath? That’s so fucking unfair-”

Jeno barks out a laugh and then slaps his hand over his mouth to shut himself up but ends up letting out weird noises instead, Renjun watches him in a mix of fondness and annoyance. _Because just how unfair was that?!_ He turns to the other side of the bed to reach out for a candy from the glass box he always kept by his nightstand. When he turns back to face the boy his shoulders are still shaking with laughter but he seemed to have calmed down slightly.

“Whatever, i guess i gotta deal with your perfections or something.” Renjun pouts feigning sadness. “While i’m just a mere human.”

The other places his arm under the sheets and curls it around Renjun’s waist to pull him closer. “You think a mere human would make me lose notion of things?” He rubs their noses together slowly the boy’s facade comes crumbling down and the corners of his mouth curl up. “I think you must be more than human, with that face too.”

“Shut up.” He grumbles, lips twitching as he tried to suppress a smile.

Jeno cocks his eyebrow up and then moves even closer till their lips connect, they move slowly and groggily at first from how tired both of them felt but then as if a wave of energy hit Jeno, the boy rolls on top of Renjun pinning his body with his thighs and grabs the boy’s face with both his hands. He deepens the kiss with a smile that vanishes when Renjun bites onto his bottom lip pushing the right buttons for Jeno to let go of his sweet gentle side and unleash the still quite tamed beast that lived inside of him.

He makes a growling sound in the back of his throat and explores every bit of Renjun’s mouth with his tongue leaving the other breathless and gasping for air, but even then he refused to make Jeno stop. They do end up stopping when the door to the parent’s room clicks open and their voices fill the hall, Jeno freeze up and perks up like an animal listening carefully to its surroundings. Renjun watches from below him with a slight smile on his face, he extends his arm to trails Jeno’s face with the pad of his finger lazily and then grins when the other finally looks down at him looking like a total puppy.

“I don’t know how i thought you could possibly be human.” Renjun croaks out making Jeno flush slightly, but not only his cheeked turned into a faded shade of pink, his eyes did too. And for the first time Renjun was ‘allowed’ to properly analyse it as it happened, he was mesmerized by it all. Seeing it change from the usual black to pink that illuminated his own face in pink hues was something out that world. “Pink.”

Jeno licks his lips and chuckles. “You’ll see that a lot, you might get bored of pink.”

“Say that again and i’ll bite you, _hard._ ” He threatens clinking his teeth together.

“As if that’d hurt me.”

“Oh are you not familiar with my vampire looking canines? I suppose i could present you two.” Renjun smiles maliciously before latching his teeth on the soft skin of Jeno’s forearm, he bites with all the energy he has and drifts his eyes upwards to check the boy’s reaction who was exactly what he expected. The other’s face was contorted with pain but he refused to let any noises out, so Renjun bites even harder and then lets go when Jeno finally lets out a strangled cry. “I suppose now you won’t talk like that every again.”

Jeno lets out cries of pain while looking at the mark of Renjun’s teeth on his skin and then huffs. “Fine! God what the fuck are you?” He pouts, his bruised bottom lip looked awfully inviting but Renjun thought he had already bruised enough for the time being so he doesn’t dare move his head from the pillow. “I knew it, you’re not human. You’re a vampire.”

“Maybe so.” He wiggles his eyebrows. “I should bite your neck then.” The shade of pink on Jeno’s cheeks just becomes darker and he looks to the side slightly to ignore Renjun’s eyes. “Oh don’t tell me you’re acting shy now-”

“I’m going to run out from the window, i swear to God.” The boy sighs deeply.

Renjun puts his hand on Jeno’s nape and pulls him down, he doesn’t waste a single second before biting down gently on the sensitive skin of the boy’s neck and sniggers when the other gasps in surprise. “You’re insufferable.” Jeno growls and forcefully pushes Renjun back down, then prevents the boy from trying anything else by pressing the palm of his hand against his mouth. “If you left a mark-” His line of thinking gets cut off when he feels Renjun’s hot tongue drag across his hand, he flinches removing his hand in the process to reveal a big grin hiding behind.

“I waited long enough for this.” Renjun pulls Jeno into his embrace when the other threatens to leave through the window if he didn’t stop. “No refunds allowed, you’re dealing with it now.”

Jeno can only let out a whine filled with exasperation and let the other glue himself to him — and deep down, beneath all the dramatic sobs and pleads for Renjun to let go, Jeno can’t help but feel warmth spread across his body like wildfire at the obnoxious display of affection.

The turquoise glint on his eyes reflecting his heart’s content state gave away his little act anyways.

 

 

 

Using the pad of his finger Renjun carefully dabs the blue of the crayon around the last remaining white parts of the canvas, then holds it up in the air to admire his artwork with a proud grin on his face. “Perfect.” He analyses the boy that resembled Jeno to make sure he hadn’t smudged anything and puts away his copy of My Little Prince that he had used for inspiration.

As he finished up his painting, with one of his legs on the chair while the other hung mid-air for he couldn’t reach the floor, Renjun couldn’t help but wonder how Jeno would react to his little present. “You made another one?” Someone asks behind him making his shriek and almost drop the canvas onto the floor, he turns around to look at where the voice had come from and then glares harshly at Jeno whose eyes formed crescents in amusement at his boyfriend’s reaction. “You’re the most talented, this looks beautiful.”

Renjun ducks his head down and hands the present to Jeno for him to look at it properly. “I can’t help but get motivated if i have to draw you.” He admits shyly. “How did you get in, you creep?”

“Your dad invited me in.” The boy replies distractedly as he admired the present closely. “You keep getting better with these, i think you should start showing them off.”

“I am. I show them off to you.”

“You know what i mean.” Jeno flicks his finger on the other’s forehead and rolls his eyes. “You could make some money off these i’m sure.”

“Maybe, but until i fill your house with painting i won’t rest.” He gets so to backhug the other as he kept on staring at every detail. “Can i decorate your house, pretty please?” Renjun bats his eyelashes prettily even if he knew Jeno would let him anyways, and he was right since the other doesn’t waste a heartbeat before nodding excitedly. “Why didn’t you decorate it?”

Jeno stays silent for a while as if thinking about it, Renjun thought perhaps he had never stopped to think about it. “I don’t know, i always felt…” He locks eyes with the other and then smirks. “Alienated in here.”

Renjun smacks the boy’s bicep to show his discontentment with the ‘dad joke’ and then sighs deeply. “I thought you were just lazy.”

“That too.” Jeno snorts loudly.

“Knew it.”

 

 

The little collection on the wall of Jeno’s room looked pretty against the simple white paint, both boys stare at it with a smile after putting in the newest addition. “Thank you.” Jeno cups Renjun’s face and pecks his lips a few times one after the other then kisses his properly.

“I brought the paint.” The other croaks out after they finally stop kissing and heads to the corner of the room where baby blue paint lay untouched. “I think me filling the whole room with paintings would look really ugly but i’d hate to let this wall bland like that.” He points at the area behind Jeno’s bed.

“I don’t really care so go wild.” Jeno shrugs but just as he starts walking out of the room, a pillow hits the back of his head.

“Where do you think you’re going? You’re helping me!” The boy shouts with two brushes in his hand and a childish glare on his face.

Jeno frowns, not budging in his spot stubbornly. “I got cows to milk! Crops to harvest!”

“We can do that later, the faster you work the better then.” Renjun throws the brush in the other’s direction, it spins rapidly but Jeno still manages to catch it.

He stares at it cross-eyed and then pouts. “If people don’t get milk tomorrow i’m going to blame it all on you.”

“Whatever.” Renjun throws his shirt on Jeno’s bed without giving it much thought so he could find some old one in his boyfriend’s wardrobe. “Hey can i use this one- You look like a tomato.”

“No i don’t!” The boy’s voice comes out way too high pitched, it makes Renjun have to bite his lip to not bark out a laugh.

“Anyways, can i use it then?”

“Yes! Yes! Put it on for fuck sake.” Jeno whines and dashes past him to grab the paint and get to work. “You did it on purpose.” He grumbles as he dips the brush in the blue substance.

Renjun wraps his arms around the boy’s shoulders and places a kiss behind his ear. “Maybe.”

Jeno just curses under his breath and starts splashing the blue paint on the white wall angrily as his boyfriend snickered by his side.

 

 

“Cows play fetch?!” The shorter asks when Jeno throws a tennis ball in the middle of the field and not only Ruby follows but about three cows looking just as excited as the dog.

“Course.” Jeno crouches down as Ruby approaches them with the ball in her mouth. “They’re just not any good compared to my baby over here.” He pats the dogs head before throwing the ball somewhere and turning to Renjun. “Did you know i name my cows or is that something i never told you?”

Renjun shakes his head. “Do you name all the animals?”

“Not the ones i know i will have to kill sometime in the future.” He frowns. “Makes it harder, so i don’t do it.” Ruby comes back with her tail wiggling excitedly and waits for the boy to throw it again. “But i got a fair share that i do name, yes.”

“Maybe i can learn them too.” He smiles softly but soon enough that smile dissipates. “J-Jeno-” Renjun squeaks when he sees a cow bolt in their direction, he takes a step back and stares at the animal with fear plastered all over his face. “Jeno, it’s going to knock us do-” But before he can even finish what he was saying, his foot slips in the grass and the next thing he knows, he lands butt first on the river bed.

He cries out and then starts whining loudly to himself and begging for Jeno to come help him. The other does show up with a smug expression and saliva slicked tennis ball on his hand. “Cows aren’t dumb, Injunnah. It stopped just before it hit me.” Jeno snorts but Renjun couldn’t care less about any of that, his pants were soaking wet and so were his shoes. Plus, the current — even if not too strong — kept pushing him down whenever he tried to get up.

“Can you stop being an ass and help me up?” He growls angrily and when Jeno finally lets the ball flop on the floor and extends his clean hand to help his boyfriend up, Renjun pushes him with all the strength he had gained since he had moved to the little town and successfully makes Jeno fall inside the water too. The perfect revenge.

“I should’ve seen that one coming.” The boy throws his head back and laughs, which only makes Renjun’s blood start boiling again. _He was supposed to be angry damnit._

“Whatever now help us both out.” He huffs, arms crossed above his chest as he pouted childishly.

Jeno shrugs. “I quite like it here.” He splashes a bit of water in Renjun’s direction and flinches when the other raises his hand up in the air with flames dancing in his eyes from anger.

“Oh course you do, idiot. You don’t feel how cold it feels.” Renjun throws himself on top of Jeno the best he could with the current and starts throwing punches on the boy’s chest. “Get us out! Now!”

He picks Renjun up, putting his hands on both sides of his torso as if he was a child and puts him on his knees so that only the boy’s shoes touched the water. “You look so cute when you’re angry.” Jeno coos while running his fingers through Renjun’s slightly wet hair. The other rolls his eyes but the corner of his lips twitch slightly. “I wish your eyes told me how you really felt.”

“Oh right.” Renjun bends down, totally forgetting about his anger after the comment, and analyses Jeno’s eyes. “Why are they normal? Usually when you mock me they go orange.”

Jeno chuckles. “They probably are orange underneath my contacts. Why do you think nobody found out about it yet?”

The other’s mouth opens slightly forming a little O at the newly acquired information, there was always so much to find out about Jeno. “Take them off! I want to see it.”

“I can’t, they’re expensive i can’t just let them go with the current.” The boy shakes his head and pokes Renjun’s nose lovingly.

“But i want to see…” He whines to himself. “I’m too used to seeing them now. It makes me wonder what colour they are underneath.”

Jeno licks his lips and gives the other a curt peck then rubs their noses together like he often did — Renjun always scrunched up his nose in with fake annoyance but he too always failed to contain the smile of endearment that spread across his lips every time.

“It’s pink.” Jeno whispers while staring right into Renjun’s eyes. “When i’m with you, it’s always pink.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was the secret too obvious? A girlie tried her best i promise fkdjsgfj


	2. pink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Oh look at me i’m an alien i got superpowers and shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not plan on making a little sequel to this in fact i wrote it in a day so it's probably messy........ but well here it is and it is quite unedited i will have to look over it soon but i couldn't wait to publish it..... so yeah enjoy this 7k of useless fluff <3

**R** enjun admires his own bicep as he carries his bag in his arms and then throws it somewhere in the empty trunk. “I still wish we could take Ruby with us.” He pouts at Jeno who throws his own bag right next to Renjun’s and then closes the trunk door with a loud bang that makes both cringe – even Ruby seemed startled at the loud noise.

“I would bring her over but that’d be such a fuss.” The boy kneels next to the dog to pet it properly, Ruby thanks him with lots of kisses that make him giggle loudly. “I just hope your parents take good care of everything, i feel like such a burden with leaving them the whole farm even if only for two days.”

“Oh they love it, mom’s taking days off work to do what she always wished she could do. You cannot possibly imagine the pain of having to hear about how much she wanted to retire and become a farmer every day of my life.”

Jeno chuckles then pats Renjun’s back so the boy would finally start heading inside the car and stop giving sad faces to the dog who wagged its tail innocently not knowing that its owner would be gone for a few days. The boy finally does start walking away while waving goodbye and then sighs loudly when he’s finally sitting down but, just right after, quirks up with a bright grin and clasps his hands together.

“I’m so excited, i can’t believe my parents let me do this!” He hops up and down in his eat and then falls on top of Jeno to hug him tightly. “Let’s just hope we don’t get lost.”

“Not to be a show off.” The other starts the engine and then pats the top of Renjun’s head lovingly as if he were a baby bunny. “I’m pretty sure i got this under control.”

Renjun rolls his eyes dramatically. “Oh look at me i’m an alien i got superpowers and shit.” He teases jokingly and then lets go of Jeno’s torso so the boy could finally start driving.

“I mean if you put it that way-”

“ _You_ put it that way.”

“Only because you somehow find me having superpowers, and i quote, hot.”

The other shrieks to muffle out the last part, his face turns a shade pinker than normal. “Okay whatever shut up and drive.”

“I got that reference.” Jeno shoots him a full on smile, crescent shaped eyes and all that Renjun could never, for the life of him, resist.

“Good job grandpa.” He mumbles while staring out of the window with a nonchalant look on his face to pretend he didn’t care when really his insides had already started melting off.

Jeno leans forward with difficulty because of the seat-belt and from the way Renjun squished himself to the door when he saw the other come closer, but even then Jeno still manages to leave a peck on the boy’s soft cheek. “Grumpy.” He snorts as the car finally starts to move, the smile glued on his face only grows when the other huffs loudly. “Y’know like the Grumpy Dwarf-”

“Yeah Jeno i got it.” Renjun flicks the side of his boyfriend’s head but this time can’t help but smile at the other’s awful jokes. They were cute, in their own special way.

Just like Jeno.

 

 

To be quite honest, Renjun had slept throughout most of the ride, it is only when the road starts getting bumpy with all the fallen rocks that he wakes up. And, _damn_ , he was glad he did.

The view was astonishing, high mountains rose up in the horizons everywhere he looked. Some more green, some more ashy, some still had snow even. Breath-taking. “Holy shit this is the prettiest place ever.” Renjun breathes out with his nose pressed against the window, eyes so big they looked animated.

“It really is, isn’t it?” Jeno pats the boy’s thigh and lets it rest there since the road seemed to have gotten better for a short while. “I only came here once for a class trip. I was shitting my pants the whole time scared my energy would like run out or something, but i somehow managed it for the whole five days.”

“Did anyone notice the changes?”

The boy shrugs. “Some did point out the hair colour change but i don’t think anyone even really sees my hair anymore so.”

“I don’t think i can ever not look at it.” Renjun twirls a strand with his index, it glints under the morning sunshine as if it really was made of gold. He loved it the most when it was that way. The day after Jeno gave the Night Sun a little visit was when it looked the most vivid and majestic.

The corners of Jeno’s lips curl upwards and he leans on Renjun’s side to ask for a kiss that he gets almost right away then goes back to driving seriously. “I guess these people have been seeing it everyday for so long that it’s not even that amazing anymore.”

“I will be on my deathbed and think i’m seeing an angel instead of you, y’know like those Christian paintings where the angels have curly golden locks. You remind me so much of them.” He rambles and then gasps to himself. “Shit i just got a painting idea!”

“Are you really going to draw me as an angel…?” Jeno feigns disbelief but the bright yellow glint in his eyes gave everything away, as per usual.

“You bet your ass i am!”

Jeno snorts. “Unbelievable.”

 

 

There was a tiny detail that the boy omitted when telling Renjun all about his trip to the nearby mountains as they lay on the sparse fields weeks a few weeks ago. A detail that, well, he probably shouldn’t have ‘forgotten’ to tell the other because now, as Renjun stared up at the mountains, they did not look so wonderful anymore knowing he had to climb up almost to the top if he wanted to get to the place where they’d get to live for a few days.

“You’re an ass.” He breathes out as they make their way a steep path and angrily stabs the stick he had found nearby on the rocky ground. “How come you forgot to tell me the part where we’d have to drag both us and our heavy bags up god knows how many meters high? Like i’m legitimately about to shove this stick up your ass as a payback.”

Jeno laughs nervously and recoils the arm he had extended to caress Renjun. “Listen, i thought it may be a bit obvious…”

“Not really! I thought we’d drive all the way up! Or maybe i don’t know, use one of those cable cars or whatever they’re called.”

“I’m sorry.” He pouts. “If you feel tired we can always rest, and i can carry your bag too…”

Renjun turns around slightly and, seeing the other was actually sad because of his whining, stops in his tracks so he could face him properly. “Oh my god i’m not actually mad, Jeno.” He cups the boy’s face and squeezes it. “Well, i am a bit but not like super seriously. It’s all good, plus it’s good for me to exercise!”

Jeno sighs deeply. “I’m still sorry.” He mumbles sadly.

“Y’know i don’t care for any of it, because i’m still spending alone time with you.” Just as he says that, another tourism passes by them with an annoyed expression for they were blocking the passageway. “And… Other tourists. But like, you get it.”

He snorts and nods weakly. “I’m serious, though, if it’s too much i can carry your stuff.”

“Oh look at me i’m so much stronger than yo-”

“Shut the fuck up that’s not what i meant you prick.” Jeno rolls his eyes but a smile still forms on his face nevertheless.

 

 

Hours later, when Renjun’s legs start to shake against his will at every step he took, they decide to make a stop by some rocks. Using the bags as their pillows, both look up at the clear blue skies where some birds flew about gracefully. “Did you put sunscreen?” Jeno asks when he feels the rays warm up his exposed legs.

“Shouldn’t you be the one worrying about that?” Renjun quirks his eyebrow up teasingly.

“I don’t-”

“Let me guess you also don’t get sunburn.” Jeno’s silence is the answer he needs, but that doesn’t make him feel any better for being right. It was just so unfair how many benefits Jeno had compared to him. “I can’t stand you.”

“You’re acting like i have any say over this.” He kicks his elbow against the boy’s ribs gently. “I’d rather be human.”

Renjun sits next to him, sunscreen already in his hand ready to be poured all over his body because even if he was slightly tanned, he had already heard stories from Jaemin that some people had gotten so badly burnt that bubbles formed on their body. He wasn’t about to let that happen to him.

“To me you are, maybe that’s why it pisses me off that you get all these benefits.”

The other laughs softly and turns his head to look at Renjun. “Somehow, you seeing me as one of your own makes me happy.” He looks back up at the sky with a sad expression that Renjun wished he had not seen. He hated whenever Jeno would think too much about it, it wasn’t like there was anything either could do. Plus, Renjun quite liked how different Jeno was from everybody else.

It made him even more special than he already was before he had even found out about Jeno’s secret.

“I know the whole being technically stuck thing is awful, but i don’t get why it bugs you so much to not be… human? Because that just means you go for the Walmart version of who you are.”

Jeno laughs, but not a quiet kind of laugh, it was loud and genuine and it made Renjun start giggling as well even if he didn’t think his joke had been all that funny. “You do have a special way of making me feel better.” He cleans the tears that formed in the corner of his eyes. “It just sometimes it feels lonely to be the only one, and plus there's always this secret in the back of my head that i cannot go around admitting to. It’s just too risky. But i really wish i could come clean for everyone y’know?”

“I get it.” Renjun finishes massaging the cream on his legs and lays down again. “Maybe it’s a bad comparison, but being a gay person in the city is hard. Most people hide it because, well nobody has to know right? Here it’s hard to deny it, everyone knows each other and things spread too quickly. But there i always felt i had to come out and show the world i wasn't who they thought i was, i just think now… Did i own them anything?” He looks at Jeno’s lilac eyes, then a soft smile spreads across his face. “Yes, your secret is part of who you are. But secrets are secrets for a reason. You are still you even if people don’t know that portion of yourself, are you not you? There must be always something we hide, even from the people we love the most.”

Jeno raises both of his eyebrows and then nods. “That… Does make sense.” He rolls around so he lays on his stomach and then moves closer to Renjun. “Thank you.” The boy places a quick kiss on Renjun’s neck then on the top of his head.

The other runs his fingers through Jeno’s hair, cross-eyed from how close they were, and then lets his hand move down the boy’s face. First he caresses his cheekbone, then jawline until he reaches the boy's neck. He pulls Jeno lower with his hand on the boy’s nape close enough for their lips to brush against each other, their breaths become one for a split second before Jeno closes the gap eagerly.

“You shouldn’t beat yourself up for being different.” Renjun whispers against his lips when they finally part, after minutes of _basically_ devouring each other’s faces. ”I think i love you more now than i ever did before you told me. You’re so interesting, knowing there’s so much more to you than i know excites me. I think you fascinate me, probably just as much as the universe itself.”

Jeno, taken aback from the sudden speech, hides his flushed red face on the crook of Renjun’s neck. “Stop that.” He whines, rubbing his whole face on the soft skin that smelled even better than the gardens back home.

“But i want you to know these things!”

All he gets in return is a weird mixture of grumbles and grunts, then some more kisses on both his neck and shoulder. Jeno might be awful with words half of the time, but quite frankly Renjun finds that endearing, and often the words that the boy could not voice came out as gestures. To him that’s more than enough.

 

 

“Are we almost there?” He whines like a child as a huge patch of ice shows up ahead in the distance. The third one. And every single time, Renjun struggled to make it through. He had enough.

Jeno looks back at him with an apologetic expression that Renjun concludes meant _no_ , and if he didn’t love the other that much, he would’ve done a 180 degree turn and headed right back down. But he wouldn’t do that to Jeno, nor himself. He wanted to have a cute vacation with Jeno, _damnit_.

He pokes his foot on the hard slippery surface, then lets out a long deep sigh. “I’ll help you, c’mon.” Jeno intertwines their fingers giving Renjun's hand a reassuring squeeze just as he starts walking ahead carefully, dragging Renjun along with him.

It isn’t perfect, Renjun still manages to trip and fall on his butt quite a few times, even making Jeno fall alongside him. But they do manage to pass the obstacle, and just as Renjun was about to scream VICTORY! he is greeted with yet another challenge. “Nah, you’re telling me i have to climb that?! It’s so steep Jeno, seriously?”

“That’s why they put ropes there to help you, even that kid is doing it.” Jeno was right, even a little child obediently followed his mother up the path. “I hate this too, but i promise it’s all worth it in the end.”

“Oh you better make it worth it.” Renjun grumbles as he gets a hold of the rope, he couldn’t even let himself soak in the beautiful imagery all around him with all those obstacles since he was too busy, y’know, trying not to die.

This time, Jeno follows behind to make sure that if Renjun slipped he wouldn’t fall right down the slope. Thankfully he wasn’t needed, Renjun manages to make it through with only little slips that make him squeak loudly but not fall. The end leads them to a more plain area, where the sound of water grabs Renjun’s attention.

He walks slowly towards the direction of the sound, his legs were shaky from all the workout but his curiosity wins over in the end. Only a few meters ahead, he finds a big waterfall that splashed a bit of its freezing cold water onto him. He shivers but doesn’t walk away, instead finds a big rock nearby and sits there observing the current as it fell down into the void.

Jeno sits nearby, Renjun hadn’t even noticed him come from how careful he had been to not snap the other out of his trance. He stares at his boyfriend’s face quietly, admiring its ethereal beauty that not just about any human possessed. Maybe that had been the reason he didn’t hold himself back when Renjun came along, maybe his subconscious had wished for the other to be like him. But even if he wasn’t, that was okay too, to him Renjun was much more special than just another human in his life.

Renjun had always felt different.Till that day Jeno could not understand why, he assumed it was the night sky that the boy always carried around in his eyes that never failed to steal his breath away. That glint never faded away, not even during the nightime. Jeno found that to be fascinating, just how much Renjun’s eyes sparkled as if they had a life of their own.

It was ironic to him that Renjun always praised him for his unique eyes when he possessed such a relic himself.

“Are we still far?” The other finally seemed to have snapped out of it and turns around to Jeno.

“Not really? We still have a while, maybe two hours.”

Renjun fists the air happily. “Thank fucking god, finally.” He sighs dramatically and opens his bag to take out another sandwich. “I thought we’d only get there by dawn or something…”

“But it’s not a straightforward walk there.” Jeno warns and Renjun fake cries at that. “I know you’re tired, but it’s not like you’re going to do much during your summer vacation are you?”

“Well.” He blinks back at him then drifts his eyes away. “...No.”

“You got about a month to relax and do nothing! Might as well give your all these days.”

“Bold of you to assume i’m not going to be nagging you at the farm basically everyday of my life.” Renjun snorts. “I mean i’ll probably just go play with the animals but i can still try and help with the gardening too!”

Jeno gives the other the _we-both-know-you’re-not-going-to-do-that_ look which successfully stops Renjun from spewing more bullshit from his mouth.

 

 

A little cabin could already be seen in the distance, except they still had to cross big bodies of water and climb up a hill to get there. “Alright let’s do this.” Renjun whispers to himself and carefully places his foot on a rock in the middle of the river, it wiggles under the pressure but he somehow manages to not fall.

Jeno giggles behind him, watching as his boyfriend crawled from each rock to the other in all fours to prevent falling on his butt. “Your feet must be soaked.” He clicks his tongue seeing how Renjun’s foot was almost fully submerged. “This is no good.”

“You know what’s no good? Me having to go through all this when i could’ve just gone on a trip to the nearby city.” He smacks the palm of his hand on the rock and then cries out in pain when it hits a spiky surface, droplets of blood fall down onto the water only to be washed away right away by the current.

The next thing he knows, Jeno is wrapped around him with worry written all over his face and eyes as red as his T-shirt. He inspections the wound and sighs as he takes out a band-aid from his bag, carefully so to not lose balance and make them both fall. “You’re such a damn idiot.” He growls as he takes care of Renjun.

“Sorry.” The other pouts and then pecks the top of Jeno’s nose when the boy is finished. “I won’t whine so much.”

“Lies.” Jeno chuckles and pats his butt so he’d start walking again, they didn’t have time to waste. The day was nearing its end, the sun was close to poking the tip of the highest mountain. “Just make sure you don’t get hurt that’s good enough for me.”

Renjun looks right into his now more orange eyes and nods. “We’re almost over and done with this stupid river.” He skips through the rocks like a baby goat then waits for Jeno on the other side with a big proud grin. “I should’ve done that the entire time instead of crawling like a turtle.”

“I can’t deny that it was a hilarious sight to see you like that.”

“Pervert you were probably looking at my ass.” He shoves Jeno lightly and then cackles loudly when the other’s cheeks turn pink.

“Was not!” He fights back. “Kinda.”

The other gets on his tiptoes and presses himself against Jeno. “Uh? What did you say?”

Jeno pushes him away and almost sends Renjun flying, he barks out a laugh when his boyfriend glares angrily at him. “That wasn’t even strong.”

“Whatever.” The other scoffs and quickens his pace, swinging his hips dramatically in front of Jeno who only rolls his eyes but doesn’t dare open his mouth. When Renjun was being petty, there was nothing he could say to make him stop. Plus, it was awfully amusing to watch him throw a tantrum.

 

 

“Holy shit finally.” Renjun falls on his knees and instantly regret it when they scrape against the rocky path, Jeno shakes his head at the reaction knowing full well he’d have to take of his boyfriend’s knees as well now.

“I gotta go find the main place so we get the keys.” He rubs his neck and looks around the area that seemed to be quite deserted, the only thing around them were scattered cabins but not a big one that stood out from the others. “I have no clue where it could be, so guess we gotta keep on walking.”

Renjun cries out dramatically but gets up to follow Jeno with a soft smile on his face just moments later. At least the worst part was over. “It’s so pretty here.” He points out when he finally got to appreciate his surroundings, there was patches of snow here and there, barely any green but even the greyish scenerary looked alive under the orange sun. It was way colder there than when they first started their adventure but Renjun was so excited that he didn't seem to care even if his body had started to shake quite badly. 

“Put a jacket on.” Jeno nags when he notices his boyfriend was starting to look paler than usual. "It’s getting cold.”

“Did i ever tell you i hate how insensitive you are to temperature change?”

“Yes.”

“I hate how insensitive you are to temperature change.”

Jeno snorts loudly and throws his big jacket that Renjun loved so much right onto the boy’s face. “Warm yourself up and shut up already." Just as he finishes talking, two arms wrap around his torso making him gasp in surprise. "What are you doing?"

“You’re so warm, i could just latch onto you instead.”

“Just put the damn jacket on you annoying prick.” Jeno giggles while petting his boyfriend’s hands soothingly, tracing the skinny fingers with the pad of his own. “You can latch onto me if you put the jacket on as well, okay?” Renjun huffs but does as he is told anyways, he knew Jeno was stubborn just like him and would not let go of the jacket issue.

They walk about, with him clinging onto the taller boy like a koala, until Jeno finally spots what they were looking for and they run down the hill filled with excitement. The sun was already hidden behind the mountains when they get out again, keys in hands and wide grins on both their faces.

“Okay so cabin 127.”

“There’s that many cabins?!” Renjun looks up at Jeno’s bright yellow eyes. “How the fuck are we going to find it before the pitch black night comes?”

“They said it’s nearby, but in any case we got flashlights. Stop worrying.” Jeno ruffles his boyfriend’s locks lovingly. “Let’s find our house then!”

 _Our house._ Renjun quite liked the sound of that.

 

 

“If this is what they call nearby....” The black haired grunts, almost one hour after they started looking for their respective cabin. Jeno snorts as he turns the handle and opens the creaky wooden door, the inside is pitch black just like the night. When Renjun points the light towards the entrance they could faintly see bits and pieces of furniture adorning the insides.

He runs inside to get a better look as Jeno tried to figure out how to turn on the lights and water supply using his own flashlight. “It should work now…” He says just as the light-bulb turns on, it flickers twice and then stops. “Yes!”

Renjun turns on the tap and water flows, he shoots his boyfriend two thumbs up. “You’re amazing!” He exclaims, so happy he could burst. “This is amazing.”

“I’m glad you like it.” Jeno bends down slightly to kiss Renjun who wraps his arms around the boy’s neck to pull himself closer to him and deepen the kiss. They stop only because the door was still open and the cool night mountain winds hit their warm bodies. “We should unpack in the morning, you are probably exhausted.”

The other nods weakly as he yawns and lets himself fall onto the old couch. “The bed is unmade though…”

“Just say you want me to do it and go, lazy ass.” Jeno shakes his head, blankets already in hand ready to do his job. “Or you could just sleep over there.”

“No! There is no space for you here.” He whines. “I wanna sleep with you.”

Jeno smiles brightly at that, and Renjun can’t help but smile right back when those crescent shapes eyes meet his. The room turns into a shade of faded pink as the other made the bed the quickest he could manage, Renjun finds himself admiring how everything looked under Jeno’s light. Never before had pink been one of his favourite colours, but now whenever he saw pink his heart fluttered inside his chest with such intensity it always felt he was about to have a heart attack. He had seen many colours ooze off Jeno, but pink was always special.

“It’s done, come over here.” Jeno pats the bed and then starts taking off his dirty shoes.

Renjun sprints towards the bed and throws himself on top of it, he bounces up and down then rolls towards Jeno.

“What now? You want me to take your clothes off too and put on your pajamas?” The other snorts when his boyfriend wraps himself around him as if he were a pillow.

“If you want to…”

“No, do it yourself stop being so lazy.”

“This is your fault! You made me climb over here!” Renjun whines but ends up sitting next to the other to take off his shoes as well. “I’m so sore.”

Jeno sighs loudly as he puts on his pajama pants and then crawls on the bed behind Renjun so to massage the boy’s shoulders the best he could. “I can massage you a bit, but only if you stop whining for a few hours.”

Renjun throws his head back, a bright smile greets Jeno making the pink glint on his eyes grows stronger. “Thank you baby.”

“Ba- Shut the fuck up.” He stabs his fingers on the boy’s skinny shoulders making him cry out loudly. “Put on your pajamas and stop playing.”

“Can i not call you baby?!” Renjun pouts as he throws his pants god knows where and tries finding his pajamas in the mess inside his bag, he turns to look at Jeno again whose cheeks were flushed red and eyes shone in an almost neon pink light. “Oh i see how it is.”

“Shut the fuck up.” Jeno repeats quietly and plops down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling where two pink spotlights remind him of just how much power over him Renjun had. “You’re so annoying.”

Renjun jumps on top of Jeno — who grunts loudly at the sudden attack — and starts peppering kisses all over the boy’s face. “Aren’t you the cutest baby?”

“I said shut up.” He whines and covers his eyes with both of his hands.

“My cute baby alien who could probably swing me across the room but won’t because he’s this massive softie-”

“You better not try me because i’m this close to throwing you against the wall.”

The boy wiggles his eyebrows. “Ohh sexy.”

“ _Not_ in a sexy way.” Jeno wiggles underneath Renjun to try and free himself but the other boy just clings harder.

Renjun observes the light coming from the cracks of Jeno’s fingers that had slowly started to fade away and quirks his eyebrow. “Well everything you do is sexy.” He smirks when the neon pink makes an appearance again followed by a loud grunt coming from the back of Jeno's throat. “This is so much fun, i think neon pink is my new favourite colour.”

“I’m seriously going to kill you if you don’t stop.” Before he could continue his vague threats, Renjun presses his lips against the boy's to shut him up. Slowly, Jeno moves his hands away from his eyes towards Renjun’s shoulders and then the back of his scalp where he tugs at the black locks when the other bites down on his lip.

He flips them over, Renjun was far too tired to even put up a fight and lets Jeno explore his mouth as his hands moved up and down his thinner torso. It doesn’t last as long as usual, mostly because both boys were exhausted.

Jeno rolls over next to Renjun and then looks over to his boyfriend whose eyes were closed already. He snakes his arm around the boy’s body to pull him closer and throws the sheets over their intertwined bodies. “Night night, Injun.”

 

 

Renjun rubs his eyes and searches for Jeno with them still closed, but when he doesn’t find the other anywhere, he snaps them open and frowns when he finds the bed empty. “Jeno?!” He asks loudly.

“Yes?” The other answers cutely and shows up closer to the bed with a flowery apron on and a pan in his hand. “I’m making breakfast.”

“You can cook?” Renjun seemed way too astonished for Jeno’s taste.

“Should i feel offended?”

The other laughs and then stretches his whole body like a cat. “Let’s see if it’s any good…” He says groggily as he plops onto the chair waiting for Jeno to give him the scrambled eggs. “You even added some bacon, nice.”

“Gotta start the day with a good meal to have lots of energy." His boyfriend grins and sits right next to him.

“Speaking of which, how are you doing?” Renjun drifts his eyes from the food towards the boy’s hair that wasn’t nearly as sparkly as the previous day, it scares him a bit but he trusts Jeno that knows better and wouldn’t let himself die off like that.

“I wasted lots of energy yesterday, but it’s all fine. It’s only critical when it turns more black than brown. And it’s still dirty blonde, so.” He explains calmly. “Don’t worry much.”

Renjun nods weakly and starts eating as well. “I mean i know it’s only scrambled eggs, but it’s far better than i expected.” He praises making Jeno grin widely, his brown eyes turn bright yellow for a few seconds before vanishing away again. No matter how many times Renjun saw those changes, he always felt his breath hitch.

“Thank you, i almost burnt it but i managed to not fuck it up in the end.” Jeno chuckles.

“You kept the burnt parts for yourself didn’t you?” The boy smiles knowingly and then clicks his tongue when he catches a glimpse of a burnt piece on Jeno’s plate.

“Maybe.”

“You’re so cute.” Renjun coos, this time not because he wanted to see Jeno’s eyes turn that pretty shade of pink he very much loved, but because it was the only thing his brain screamed at him as he stared at Jeno’s puffy morning face.

The other groans and drifts his eyes away from his boyfriend. “You need to stop that.”

Renjun drags his chair closer to Jeno’s and leans in to place a curt peck on the boy’s jawline. “Maybe if you could see how many times my eyes turn pink for you, then you’d really see who’s the goner here.” He whisper while rubbing the tip of his nose against the smooth warm skin. “I love you.” Renjun sings softly and watches as Jeno melts at that.

“I love you too.” He finally turns to look at him with his hot pink eyes. “But you’re still insufferable.”

 

 

Renjun never thought he’d ever get the chance of stargazing up so high where the stars shone as brightly as the sun. It felt as if he could just almost reach out for them and snatch some with him back home. “This is beautiful.” He mumbles with his head on top of Jeno’s chest that rose and fell in a calming fashion, it was making him drift into a sleepy daze.

“Not as beautiful as you.” Jeno blurts out, Renjun waits a few seconds for pink to shine through knowing the boy hadn’t thought before he opened his mouth. It only takes three seconds for his theory to be proven correct.

“Cute.”

“Whatever.”

Jeno grabs the blanket and throws it over them both, because even if he wasn’t cold, he could feel the goosebumps on his boyfriend’s arm. Renjun was always too stubborn to admit he was cold knowing Jeno didn’t feel it the same way he did, his obsession to act stronger than he really was annoyed Jeno but there wasn't much he could do. He always pretended that he too was just like him, and it worked for the most part since Renjun often forgot that he wasn’t human just like everybody else.

He liked that about him, how Renjun never looked at him like he was some sort of foreigner or bizarre creature. Even he forgot who he really was sometimes, until his energy started to run out again. Only then was that reality hit him one more, ten times stronger.

No matter how many times Renjun tried to make him feel better, Jeno doubted he’d ever really be okay with the fact that he wasn’t ‘normal’. It sucked, but he’d never admit that to Renjun who seemed super hopeful that things could be normal between them. And maybe he was right, but Jeno had spent too long shaming who he was inside his head to let go of the hatred so easily. But he was willing to try, he didn’t want to let the other down.

Plus, Renjun was always so eager to learn more about their differences. It was endearing and always made him feel somewhat good about being abnormal. He looks over to his boyfriend’s serene face as he analysed the scintillating sky above. “Thank you.” Even if he hated voicing his emotions, it was yet another thing he wished to try and change for Renjun who was always so vocal about whatever crossed his mind and made sure Jeno knew just how loved he was.

Jeno wanted Renjun to know he too was loved as well. 

The boy perks up and looks at his boyfriend with a wide grin that showed his little snaggle-tooth. “For what?”

Jeno hums then shrugs. “Everything?”

Renjun nods and doesn’t push further knowing that the other was trying his best even with such vague answers. “I’m thankful as well.”

“Really?” The pink grows stronger as a smile spreads across his lips.

“Of course, you make me look forward to seeing what the future holds.” The boy rubs their noses together and then pecks Jeno’s lips. “I love you.”

Jeno looks right into the other’s sparkly eyes, losing himself in them and the little universe they held. So much so that he almost forgets that he hadn’t replied back to Renjun who was still looking at him expectantly. “I love you more than you know.”

“Then make sure i know.” Renjun giggles when Jeno cups his face so to pull him closer and capture their lips together in a sweet slow kiss. He could never get bored of kissing Jeno, it always felt new and fresh somehow. It still made it hard to breathe and adrenaline pump inside his veins, the Jeno effect never seemed to vanish.

And Renjun didn’t want it to. Ever.

 

 

“Just admit we're lost already, Jeno.” The boy rolls his eyes as his boyfriend looked everywhere to see if he found a familiar spot, except he had spent almost forty minutes doing that and they were yet to find their way back to the cabin.

“So what if we are, i’m gonna get us home.”

Renjun smacks the butt of his lantern and then sighs, the light intensity just kept on going down and sometimes it would flicker. Sooner or later they'd run out of light and have to find their way back in the pitch black night, which was not only dangerous but also impossible.

“Baby we are running out of light.” Renjun whispers and then flinches when Jeno lets out an animalistic growl. “Sorry i didn't mean to stress you.” He pets the back of Jeno’s head gently making the red glint of the boy’s eyes fade away. “Wait i got an idea.”

Jeno turns to at him with a puzzled look and his breath hitches when Renjun steps closer. The flashlight illuminated his face enough that he could see his malicious grin. “What-” He sucks in a breath when the boy’s lips latch on the sensitive skin of his neck and suck lightly.

Renjun takes a step back a few seconds later with a big grin that fades away when he notices his plan had failed. “Why isn't it pink?!” He stares back at the dark purple orbs and bites his lip nervously, _had he done something wrong?_

“Why would it be pink, you're sucking on my goddamn neck! “

The boy’s eyes widen and then he lets out a loud giggle. “Is dark purple-”

“Can we please move on now?” Jeno cuts him off with a scowl and starts walking as quickly as he could muster away from his boyfriend.

“Come back hereeee.” Renjun whines and sprints in his direction so he can cling onto him like usual. “Jeno we'll be fine, the more stressed you are the worst. I know you're capable of finding our way back home just relax.”

And he does, his body melts slightly at the words and touches. “It'd be fine by me to sleep outside but you can die because of the cold, Injun.” He sighs.

“We got blankets and everything, i won't freeze to death.” He peppers kisses all over Jeno’s neck and then shoots him a soft reassuring smile. “I trust you so just take it easy.”

Just as the flashlight shuts down completely, Jeno’s eyes light up the path with a still very faded shade of pink which was just enough for them to see what was ahead. “Maybe your plan is smart after all.” The boy admits seemingly more relaxed than before.

Renjun rubs his face on Jeno’ bicep like a kitty. “You can't be the only mastermind here.” He continues caressing his boyfriend's face and hair as they walk through the badly illuminated path. “You're so handsome.” The light becomes slightly stronger, Renjun quirks his eyebrow up and licks his lip. “I could honestly spend my day just talking about how wonderful you are.”

“Do i have to suffer like this until i find our way home?”

“Well yeah as long as we get some light i guess you must suffer from cheese overdose.” He bats his eyelashes. “Get ready for some Jeno lovin’!”

“Oh god…”

 

 

Renjun doesn't wanna go back home, if he could he'd stay there with Jeno for weeks even if, technically, there wouldn't be much to do after so many days. But whenever he looked at how dark Jeno’s locks had become, he suddenly just wanted to sprint home as soon as possible. He wished to never see the other in the awful state of that one night.

“I'm sad.” He mumbles as he stares out of the window in the truck’s ceiling at the still blue clear sky. “But also happy.”

Jeno moves his hand so it rests on top of the boy’s thigh and moves it up and down slightly. “Me too, we should do this more often.”

Renjun perks up instantly. “Oh my god yes there's so much we can do nearby, plus if we go to cities you don't waste as much energy right? So then we can stay for longer.” He rambles excitedly.

“I'd love that.” Jeno turns to look at him for a split second before watching the road again. “Just plan whatever you want and i’ll tell you if it's possible by me or not.”

The other starts clapping with happiness and then kisses Jeno’s hand that was previously on his thigh. “I can't wait to travel around with you.”

“I'm sorry it's all so limited.” Jeno sighs but Renjun shakes his head right away.

“That's okay, i’m in terms with it now. Anywhere we go that's fine by me even if we end up going to the same places over and over again because we can't go further.”

A baby pink tear rolls down Jeno’s pale face that he wastes no time in wiping away, Renjun still sees it however and moves closer so to place a kiss on top of the salty trail.

“I love you a lot.” He whispers right next to Jeno’s ear and then caresses his cheek fondly.

Their eyes lock for a curt moment, pink meets brown, and an explosion is triggered inside their chests. So intense neither breathe for some very long seconds.

“I love you too.” Jeno finally says with a soft smile

Renjun mimics the action and then sits back properly. “Now you should really pay attention to the road before you get both killed.”

 

 

It’s already night when they finally arrive home, but instead of heading right back to the farm, Jeno makes a stop at the town’s center to visit his _lovely_ friend that he very much detested. He stares at the glowing globe and sighs deeply. “I’ll be right back.” He says before smacking the door closed and walking towards the bright object surrounded by the dark night.

Renjun watches him with eagle eyes inside the cozy truck. He had seen the process about three times in total, and it still didn’t process in his brain as an actual _thing_  that did not come from a movie scene. It never looked real, the way a gold cloud evolved Jeno and made his whole body shine so brightly his eyes hurt was too out of that world to be real. 

The cloud dissipates and then the only thing illuminating the night was the globe and Jeno’s golden locks. Jeno stares down at the object with the palm of his hands flat on the surface, then breathes in sharply and heads back towards the truck where Renjun awaited. “All good now?” He asks with a gentle smile.

Jeno nods and leans back on his seat. “I should’ve done this tomorrow.”

“Why?!” Renjun frowns.

“I can’t cuddle you tonight. I didn’t think it through.” The boy whines. 

“You got forever to cuddle me, you’ll live.”

The other snaps both eyes open to stare at Renjun, the usual shade of pink adorned them both making him look even more adorable than usual. “Forever?” He smiles so bright that even his hair seemed overshadowed by it. 

Renjun nods cutely. “And beyond.”

 

 

 

 

_“Renjun?”_

_“Yeah?”_

_“That was extremely cheesy.”_

_“Well you did say it’s one of your favourite foods didn’t you? Stop complaining.”_

_“Yes sir.”_

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _YALL_ this person made an amazing jeno [fanart](https://twitter.com/valenlimes/status/1104732764740378624?s=19) inspired by this fic check it out!! ! i'll be in my corner crying over this for eternity TT

**Author's Note:**

> [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/aquadons)  [twitter](https://mobile.twitter.com/ultraviolentae)


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